The Only Way Out
by darkcherry
Summary: Death is her only way out. But death didn't take her out. Instead, it brought her life. This is the story of Grace and her part in the Fellowship. R&R!!
1. I Have to Get Out

- - - Grace - - -

I took one last look around to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. No, everything was in order.

On my desk lay a note. It went something like this:

To Whoever Cares,

I have tried to get out. But I could find no way.

If you really care, then I am sorry.

Grace

Grace. What a name hey? For someone that's anything but blessed. I had really tried to find a way out. School work wasn't the answer, friends weren't the answer - I didn't have many of those - and I thought this was my only way out.

I had trouble deciding which way to do it. Pills or slitting my wrists. I thought that pills would be less painful but maybe the more gruesome way would get the message across better. Not that my parents would care. Hell, they'd probably be happy I was dead.

Actually, they probably wouldn't notice for several days. That's why I didn't put _To Mom and Dad. _I thought that _Whoever Cares_ would be better. Because my parents really didn't care at all. They hadn't done anything in my best interest for more than seven years.

Seriously, the last thing I can remember them doing nice for me is taking me out for ice cream when I was eleven after I had won a baseball game. How pathetic is that?

On the back of the note I had written a poem. It wasn't copied out of a book. Poetry was another way I had tried to escape the pain. That also didn't work. The poem was like this:

Lone Tear

What have I done

That I deserve to cry?

I hold the tears back,

But it hurts to try.

Down my face,

Little drops of pain.

They'll see me cry now,

But never again.

They reach my mouth,

It's set in a frown.

I cry all alone,

I cry without sound.

More tears are coming,

And they hit the floor.

I can't stop them now,

I start to cry some more.

I am alone,

No friends to lose.

This is a cut,

A sore, a bruise.

My tears have stopped,

I'm left gulping for air.

Who would prefer

If I had died there?

(A/N: This poem was actually written by me, and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't take it!)

Maybe this would get the message through. Although I highly doubted it.

Well, I was ready. I took one last look around my room. Bed, rug, dresser, mirror. No posters, no stuffed animals. Nothing that made it homey at all.

I picked up the knife that I had placed on my dresser. At first it hurt to break the skin. Once I saw my own blood, I had an urge to plunge the knife very deeply into my arm but I decided not to. I made a cut that went from the heel of my hand and ran along one of my veins. It was about four inches long and pretty deep. If I was to live through this, I knew it would have scarred.

After I had about five cuts on my left wrist, I moved to my right one. This one was harder because I wasn't left handed. I only got to about three on that arm and I started to get really dizzy. So, I sat on the ground. I looked around and realized I was sitting in a pool of my own blood. I had an urge to throw up but I held it in.

The knife clattered to the floor. It was getting very hard to keep my eyes open. I lay in my own blood. My wrists started to gush, literally gush, blood. It ran into my black hair and onto my face. I closed my eyes so it wouldn't get in them.

My eye colour was the only thing I liked about myself so I didn't want blood on them so they were red. Hey, I know it was a stupid thought but I wasn't thinking very clearly alright? Oh, right, back to my eye colour. They were kind of a grey-green. Sometimes they'd have a hint of an almost yellow colour in them.

I loved my eyes. They were the only thing in my life I had to be proud of. Stupid, I know.

Fuzzy. Things started to get fuzzy. I knew I was losing consciousness, which probably meant that death was finally claiming me. I said a quick prayer, telling God to save my soul from the devil.

I'm not that religious but right then I felt so afraid that I'd actually go to Hell. But hey, I guess God had different things in store for me.

I could barely see my dresser anymore. The blood had soaked into the rug. Mom would sure be pissed.

Oh well.

That's when the darkness claimed me for good.

- - - Haldir - - -

I was wandering through my home. The woods of Lothlórien were beautiful. The sun was shining although it was hard to see it through the tall trees.

I had my bow slung over my back along with a quiver full of arrows. I didn't think I'd actually need them. Very rarely do we need to shoot anything in the realm of Lórien.

Suddenly, my eyes could see a smudge of black in the distance. Black is not a colour often seen in these woods. Usually things are varying shades of brown or green or blue. As I got closer I could see it was hair.

Hair? Why is there hair on the ground? Then I realized that attached to the hair was a head. Or hair attached to the head, I should say. At first I thought it was a male. It is not uncommon to see men with long hair, I should know for I have long hair myself.

It turned out to be a female. A human girl, maybe eighteen, if that. Her hair was matted to her head with what looked to be blood. I thought she was injured, but try as I may, I couldn't locate any cuts on her.

Finally, I walked right up to her and nudged her with my toe. She started to stir and in an instant I had my bow in notched and in her face. Her eyes open and she sat up. When she saw the bow her eyes widened slightly but not much.

Her eyes were really a strange colour. They had grey in them but I could also see green and something that looked to be gold. Slightly I shook my head. I decided to speak.

"What are you doing in the realm of Lothlórien? Are you friend or foe?"

- - - Grace - - -

What a pleasant awakening. A bow in my face. What a way to make a girl feel welcome, I tell you. But, I guess if I wasn't dead, which I highly doubted, it wouldn't matter if I got shot in between the eyes.

I looked up at this guy standing above me. Long, straight, blonde hair. Striking blue eyes. When I looked into them I got caught. I heard him say something and I had to mentally slap myself for getting so lost in his eyes.

I thought back on what he said. _What are you doing in the realm of Lothlórien? _What the Hell's Lothlórien? _Are you friend or foe? _Hey! You're the one with the bow in my face!

Instead of saying anything, I slowly started to stand up, hands up over my head so he'd know I didn't have a weapon and wasn't going to hurt him.

"I'm taking you to the Lady of the Wood."

Who was that? Oh well, it really didn't matter.

"I'm going to have to bind your hands." The dude started taking some kind of silver rope off of his belt. It was unlike any rope I had ever seen before.

He grabbed my wrist. Only then did I notice I still had cuts on them. Almost against my will I ripped them out of his hands. Shit, that hurt.

A quizzical look passed on his face. Then he got a good look at my wrists. He tried to cover up his shocked face but it didn't really work. I saw the look of horror that was on his face.

This time he gently took my hands in his, examining the self-inflicted wounds closely. I only then noticed how gross they actually looked. The blood had dried around the edges but they were still oozing slightly.

Ew, gross. I wouldn't want to have my hands that close to those if I were him.

Again gently he let go of one of my hands and started to pull me along by my left, and worse mutilated, arm. I could tell he was trying to be gentle but it still hurt.

All I could do was follow this guy, and hope he led me to some answers of where I was, how I got there, and why I was there.

(A/N: Okay! How was that you guys? Like the poem? This story of mine will actually have a plot, don't worry! And just in case you didn't know, the name inside the dashes is a switch in someone's point of view! Thanks for reading, and now, REVIEW!)


	2. The Fellowship Arrives

- - - Galadriel - - -

I knew Haldir was coming before I saw or heard him. With him was someone. A girl. A human. Someone unfamiliar to me.

Haldir finally came into sight. He was holding a human girl by her hand and pulling her along. Her appearance was slightly odd.

There was blood covering her hands and it went up to her elbows. Her eyes were very oddly coloured. When she moved her arms I could see there were big gashes on both her wrists. I had never seen cuts like that and I wondered what could have done that.

"My Lady. I found her in the woods. She hasn't said a word to me since I met her. The wounds on her arms like unnatural. I brought her to you to see what we should do with her." I could tell the young girl didn't understand any of this because Haldir said it all in Silvan, our language.

I reverted back to common tongue for her benefit.

"I am Lady Galadriel. What is your name?"

Her eyes moved onto me and I could see her studying me for a second before seemingly losing interest.

"Perhaps she is a mute?" Haldir suggested.

Stupid ass, why would I want to talk to you?

The temptation to burst out laughing when she projected that thought was very hard. I coughed lightly to cover up what very close to a laugh.

I struggled to keep my voice steady when I spoke. "I highly doubt that, Haldir."

- - - Grace - - -

I was thinking sarcastic, often mean, thoughts about Haldir. Galadriel seemed to be trying to contain her laughter. Looking around, I saw nothing that looked remotely funny. Maybe it was a blonde thing.

Haldir and Galadriel kept conversing. They had forgotten about me for the time being. I decided to listen; it might come in handy later.

"They should be here within the day."

"And you say there is nine of them?"

"If everything goes as planned, yes, 'tis nine."

I had no idea what they were talking about. I thought I better stand here looking bored so they get the hint.

After a few seconds, Galadriel seemed to acknowledge that I didn't want to listen to a conversation I understood nothing of, because she told Haldir to take me away and tend to me. Which I took to mean: get information.

Unsuccessfully, but bravely, Haldir tried to start conversations with me. It was probably pretty dangerous. I wasn't in a good mood. My wrists hurt more than I wanted to admit and I was sore, dirty and tired.

I was led to a little pool of water that looked extremely clean and was surrounded on all sides by bushes. Thank God. I didn't really feel like having people watch me strip and take a bath.

- - - Haldir - - -

I left the silent girl alone by the healing waters so she could bathe in privacy. The Lady had told me to tend to her well. Show her around, let her bathe, care for her arms, give her new clothes, all those things.

I had just been informed the Fellowship was coming to Lothlórien. Lady Galadriel thought that they would be there within the day.

I was looking forward to seeing my friend Legolas, I hadn't seen him in almost half a century. We were long overdue for a talk. I had also heard that the King of Kings would be with the Fellowship. If that's not impressing, I do not know what is.

After leaving the silent one for a good portion of an hour, I started to walk back to the healing waters. I called over to bushes before going through, not wanting to catch her naked. She didn't reply, which didn't surprise me, but I figured I had given her enough warning so I stepped through.

She was standing in her dirty, blood soaked clothes, watching me. I handed her a simple green dress with short sleeves and a tight waist. She took it from me and started to look at my face. At first she was just studying me, but after a while, she just stared.

It took me a while to realize she wanted to me to turn around so she could change. I started to flush slightly but managed to hide most of it.

She tapped me lightly on the shoulder to indicate that she was done changing. I turned around and held up a roll of bandages that I had brought for her arms. She nodded to show she understood that I would be wrapping her arms, and held them out in front of her.

As gently as possible I wrapped her wrists. Again I wondered what could have done that. It looked like something done with a knife but that didn't explain how she had come to our woods or who had done it.

"Who did this to you?" I tried asking her another question. I hoped that she would answer this time.

No luck. But her eyes, that a second before had looked like she was in a daydream, came back to earth and sharply looked right at me. At first she looked startled but that soon gave way to a look of sadness. Her eyes started to fill with tears but still she wouldn't say anything.

Looking determined, she blinked, trying to clear the tears.

- - - Grace - - -

I wasn't going to let this stranger see me cry. But for the first time since I had slashed my wrists, I felt ashamed.

When he asked me who did it, his voice was full of hate for whoever, whatever, would do that to someone else. What would he think about someone who did this to themselves? I thought it would be better he didn't know.

After my arms were wrapped so tightly I could barely move my wrists, Haldir motioned for me to follow him. I decided that it would be better than wandering around by myself, so I followed.

I was lead back to a place with huge stairs. In front of the stairs stood eight people. Some appeared to be children and some much older than I was.

Haldir and I came into the clearing without anyone noticing and we stood on the side. I saw Galadriel and an unknown elf, holding onto her hand, gracefully walk down the stairs. They looked more like they were floating.

"Here there are eight. Nine were to set out: so said the messages. But maybe there has been some change of council that we have not heard, Elrond is far away, and darkness gathers between us, and all this year the shadows have grown longer," the elf with Galadriel said. ¹

Then she spoke: "Nay, there was no change of council. Gandalf the Grey set out with the Company, but he did not pass the borders of this land. Now tell us where he is; for I much desired to speak with him again. But I cannot see him from afar, unless he comes within the fences of Lothlórien: a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and mind are hidden from me." ¹

I heard all this but didn't really understand. Then I heard watched a man with longish brown hair speak. His blue eyes looked kind but full of pride and unspoken leadership.

"Alas! Gandalf the Grey fell into shadow. He remained in Moria and did not escape." ¹

Galadriel seemed to take this news hard. I heard Haldir let out a quiet gasp. The children, or what I thought then to be children, had their heads bowed. One of them had a look of a great weight on his shoulders.

I listened to Galadriel talking to them for a while. Telling them that the quest wouldn't fail if the Company stayed true. I still didn't have a clue what quest they were talking about. Silently I slipped away.

I found my way to a clearing. It was surrounded by trees and looked like a nice place to have a rest. I sat down a fell asleep.

How long I slept, I don't know, but I was awoken by a gentle poking in my side. I opened my eyes and stretched. There was a squeak and a thud. Sitting up quickly, I saw one of the children on the ground. I must have startled him and he had fallen over.

As soon as I looked at him his face broke into a huge smile. Slowly he stood up and came a bit closer to me. He was too short to be an adult, yet his face didn't resemble a child's at all.

"Hello! I'm Peregrin Took. People call me Pippin for short. I come from the Shire. That's where all the hobbits live. I'm a hobbit too. What's your name?"

He said this all so fast that I had trouble taking it in. I blinked and looked at him. His eyes were wide and blue and they stared right back at me, unabashed.

I sighed and leaned forward, bringing my knees up, and flopping my arms onto them. Pippin saw my bandaged arms and reached out to touch my hand.

His voice was quiet and timid when he asked, "What happened?"

I didn't answer but I started unwrapping one of my arms to show him. He helped me a little. When the bandage fell to the ground, his eyes widened. My arm was very red and disgusting looking. Haldir hadn't put any ointment or anything on them so they were just oozing whatever it is that cuts ooze.

The little hobbit took my hand in both his little ones and brought it up. His eyes weren't filled with anger like Haldir's had been, they were filled with sympathy. I think he guessed there was more to this than everyone thought.

I don't know what it was about that look, but it made me think that I could trust him and he wouldn't judge me at all.

"I'm Grace." Was that my voice? After being unused for a long time it was all raspy and sounded horrible. I cleared my throat and repeated myself.

There was a huge smile on Pippin's adorable little face. "They told me you wouldn't speak. Haldir had told Legolas you were here and that you hadn't told anyone your name or how you got here. He said that someone must have attacked you and just left you here. Is that what happened?"

I shook my head and lowered my gaze. "I don't really want to talk about it." He seemed to get the message and changed the conversation to a new topic.

"Come and meet my friends! You'll like Merry and Frodo. Sam's kind of uptight sometimes but he's nice too. And there's Aragorn and Gimli and Ganda-" Suddenly he cut off and lowered his head.

"Pippin, are you alright?" I asked him.

He swallowed, nodded his head sadly and struggled to speak. "Something happened to Gandalf. He - he... fell."

I had no clue what he meant by "fell" but I felt sympathy for him nevertheless. I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. The hobbit looked up at me and smiled a ghost of his former one. I stood up and reached my hand down for his.

"So, what was it you said about me meeting your friends?"

(A/N: Yay! Another chapter done! If you like, Review, if you don't, Review. Just don't flame me too hard please! I love Pippin, he's like the best hobbit of them all. Except Frodo. Who's hot. What a hot hobbit!! Keep reading guys! Oh, and I forgot a disclaimer on the first chapter so:_ I don't own Lord of the Rings or anything that goes with it_.)

¹ The Fellowship of the Ring, page 346


	3. Confide In Me

- - - Legolas - - -

Pippin approached the camp, pulling along a girl which I assumed to be the "silent one" that Haldir had told me about. He said she had not told them her name nor said a word since she had been found.

I examined her closely. Her hair was a black or extremely dark brown and straight. All the way to her shoulders. Her eyes caught my attention. Haldir had mentioned them being a weird colour. A grey. But with green and gold. She was not too skinny. Certainly not starved! There was a slight amount of fat around her waist. That alone told me she hadn't been living on her own out in the wild.

"Legolas, Merry. Come here!" Pippin called to us. "I want you to meet someone."

Merry wandered over and I cautiously approached the odd looking girl. After looking at me for a few seconds, she examined Merry. She was probably quite bored at looking at elves after being in Lothórien for several days.

I had let my mind wander while Pippin had been talking.

"... is Grace. She's the girl that Haldir told you about!"

"Vedui' little one," I said, greeting her in my own language but not expecting her to reply. She surprised me by saying something back.

"Hi."

"Speak common tongue!" Merry complained. The hobbits knew nothing of elvish.

"I have just greeted the lady in elvish," I told Merry. I looked back to Grace. "Welcome to the Golden Wood, though I am sure you're tired of hearing it."

I reached out to take the lady's hand a kiss it, as is proper. When I took her hand, I noticed several long, deep gashes on both of her wrists. Haldir had not mentioned these to me. Without hesitation, I lightly kissed her hand while investigating her wrists with my eyes. They had been cleaned, most likely by Haldir. It was a clean cut, done with a knife by the looks of it. She noticed my eyes on her wrists and watched me.

"My Lady," I said, and left to find Haldir and speak with him.

- - - Boromir - - -

I heard someone call my name. Looking over, I saw several people gathered in one spot, talking.

Walking over, I saw Merry, Pippin, and Aragorn talking to a young girl that I didn't recognise. At first glance, I thought she was very beautiful. There was an untamed look in her eyes. I had always liked a woman that had a mind of her own.

"Boromir! This is Lady Grace. She is a guest in these woods. Will you not welcome her?"

Of course, always like Aragorn to be the perfect gentleman. I didn't want to be shown up by what I had once thought to be a "mere ranger."

"Greetings my Lady Grace," I said, bowing, "I am Lord Boromir. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

She bowed her head slightly for a second. "Nothing, sir."

At that moment, Aragorn snatched up Grace's hand. Well, snatched is too strong a word. Aragorn never snatches; he reached out and grabbed onto her hand and pulled it towards him, wrist up.

I could see her trying to pull her arm away from him. Honestly, I never thought Aragorn would do anything like that to a lady. I was about to step in and take her arm gently away from his grip, but he cut me off.

"These need to be cleaned," he said, referring to the cuts on her wrists, "They will be infected if not. Come with me Grace."

I saw Grace blink in surprise. She obviously wasn't expecting concern. Her eyes looked back at me. There was something in that look. Fear? Yes, but not fear of Aragorn. Fear of being discovered. What did this strange girl have to hide?

- - - Grace - - -

I had trouble keeping track of all these guys. Just as I met Legolas and Merry, Legolas left and then we were joined by the nice looking man I had seen before. Aragorn. Then he called over another man who could have been his brother, they looked so similar. His name was Boromir.

I have to say, I was quite startled when Aragorn grabbed my hand. I thought he was going to demand what had happened to me. Instead, he told me they needed to be cleaned again. No questions asked. I liked this Aragorn guy already.

So, there I was, trailing behind him. He led me to a pond of water, not unlike the one I had bathed in that morning. Out of his pocket he produced some kind of weed.

Now I thought this guy was out of his mind. How was getting high going to help my cuts? I almost laughed when he started to wash my wrists and then put the weeds on them. I had thought he wanted me to smoke them!

He must have sensed my laughter but he didn't understand it. Instead, he just looked up from my arms and smiled. This guy was so awesome. I swear, he was my new idol.

But I knew there was going to be questions coming eventually, so I started to think up something I could say. There was no logical excuse but the truth and I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that. As expected, as soon as my cuts were cleaned, he asked questions.

"Lady Grace, what happened to your wrists? Were these done with a knife?"

I opened my mouth to lie to him. You know, the whole _I don't know, I was unconscious_ thing, or the _I'm not telling you, it was too horrible_ charade.

Aragorn must have known I was going to lie because he reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. My gaze went from his arm up to his face. I had to admit, this guy was pretty good looking for someone so much older than I was.

"I... I can't tell you."

He looked right at me, searching my face to see if I was lying. I could see that he believed me.

"Then tell me, what did this to you? Were you attacked?" he asked.

Damn him and his concerned attitude. It made me what to tell him everything. There was no doubt that I could trust him, but I barely knew the guy! This guy was good. I wish I knew his tricks to get someone to tell me something.

"No one did this to me... I can't tell you," I repeated my answer, adding in that no one had did it so he didn't go all ballistic on me and force me to tell him. Although I doubt that Aragorn knows how to go ballistic on innocent young girls such as myself.

Again, he examined me. He looked so deeply into my eyes that I felt like he was looking right into my soul. That was scary. I had never been looked at like that. He seemed satisfied after that.

"But," he added, "you know you can tell me if you need to?"

Of course I knew this! I had already sensed that he was a guy with a lot of secrets. Let me rephrase that: keeping other people's secrets from everyone. He wouldn't tell anyone if I asked him not to, right?

I opened my mouth to tell him everything. Well, not everything. Just enough to get him off my back. No doubt he'd think I was totally crazy after this.

"I did it."

"What? You did what?"

"I did this," I said, waving my wrists in the air, "Where I come from, this happens a lot. People are unhappy. They cut themselves as a way out. To commit suicide."

"You cut yourself? To kill yourself? It didn't work?" He seemed confused. Obviously people don't try to kill themselves here a lot.

"Yes, I tried. One moment I was at home and when I woke up I was here. I don't know what happened. Please," I added, almost as an afterthought, "don't tell anyone about this."

He nodded his understanding and motioned for me to follow him back to where everyone was.

- - - Aragorn - - -

She had done it herself. "As a way out," she had said. I couldn't believe it. But I wasn't going to tell anyone. I would keep my promise and keep this to myself. It was her story to tell. In fact, I was surprised she had even told me.

We walked back to our camp. Legolas was there at this time, having come back from talking to Haldir, I presumed.

"Aragorn," Legolas called to me, "Where have you been?"

"I have been tending to Lady Grace's cuts, Legolas." Legolas accepted this answer.

"Estel," he said to me, in elvish, "There is something to this girl that no one has guessed. Those cuts on her arms are not natural! We need to know if she will help or hinder the Fellowship."

I answered him in elvish, while Grace looked on. "I know, my friend. The cuts are unnatural. She has explained some of it to me. I will not repeat it to you now."

I am fortunate to have a friend like Legolas that will stop asking questions when the time is right. If I had said any of that to Boromir, he would have pestered me until I told him the reason for Grace's wounds. Thank the Valar for the elves.

(A/N: Woohoo, Legolas is here!! Everyone cheer for him! Do the wave! You like? I hope so. REVIEW!!! And read some other stories I've written. Well, only some of them are written by me. Some are co-written or written by my friend. Anyways, just read them!


	4. Stay True

- - - Frodo - - -

We had been there for three weeks. Grace had been spending most of her time with us, mostly sleeping in the camp. I had heard Legolas worriedly talking to Strider about it. What was to happen when they would leave? Would she come with us?

After only a few days, Grace's admiration for some was very apparent to me. She admired Aragorn for his strength, his knowledge, and above all, his ability to be kind and understanding even though he was a lethal warrior when needed.

There was also a kindness that Aragorn showed her that he showed no one else. I could not tell if this was because she was a lady or for some other reason. Sometimes they seemed to share a secret. Legolas was the only other one who seemed to notice this except me. I had heard him question Aragorn about it once, when Grace had first come into our midst.

Legolas was called off by Haldir. When he came back, he cried out to Aragorn. Boromir, Pippin, Merry, and Gimli were sitting, telling Grace about everything we had gone through to get here. I noticed Boromir's eyes would linger on Grace longer than anyone else. Then Aragorn approached me.

"We leave tomorrow, Frodo. At dawn we will go, be prepared tonight."

I nodded to show my understanding. "And what of Grace?" I asked him.

He sighed, looking apprehensive. I don't think I'd ever seem him look so unsure before. "I was informed that she will be accompanying us."

- - - Grace - - -

Legolas came over to talk to us. In the distance, I could see Aragorn and Frodo conversing. Aragorn looked extremely worked up about something. I shrugged it off and turned to hear what Legolas was saying.

"We are departing at dawn tomorrow. The Lady of the Wood has said that you will come with us, arwenamin."

I could feel everyone looking at me. After several days, Legolas had taken up calling me _arwenamin_. I had asked him what it meant. He had smiled at me in that little way that made me think he thought of me a little kid - which, to him, I guess I was.

Frodo had overheard and explained that it meant _my lady_. I never knew he spoke elvish. He explain he only spoke some, he wasn't fluent. After a while, I was used to it, so I would answer when he called.

But back to me going with the Fellowship. Galadriel had said that I was to go with them? Why? What could I do to help them? I couldn't even cook, that was Sam's pride and joy! Maybe I was going because I was a replacement for Gandalf. I had been told all about him. If I was replacing him, I had a lot to live up to. And I'm telling you now, I was not falling down a huge hole with a big fiery demon for **anybody**.

I guess I must have zoned out thinking about all that, because the next thing I knew, Pippin was waving his hand in my face trying to revive me.

"Huh? What?" I asked, stupidly.

"I said: We're going to go to sleep, we have to get up early. Are you coming now or later?"

I wanted to sit by the fire a while longer, so I told him I would be there later and he left, singing some cute little hobbit song. My eyes were just starting to droop when Aragorn sat down beside me, looking tired.

I smiled at him. Waving his hand a bit in reply, he lit his pipe and started to smoke, staring off at the trees. I wanted him to speak, he was one of my favorite people to talk to. He didn't look at me like a child like Legolas. Nor in complete admiration like Boromir. Frodo barely talked to me at all. Merry and Pippin loved to joke and were so childish, but you couldn't carry on a serious conversation with them.

Not to mention, that Aragorn was incredibly good looking. And he knew my secret. I knew he hadn't told anyone because I hadn't been getting any funny looks from anyone. Well, the ones from Boromir and Legolas didn't count.

I went to bed without any talking to Aragorn. Curling up by Pippin, because I knew he'd want me to, I stared up at the sky. The wind rushed through the trees. Maybe if I had had friends like this or lived in the woods, I wouldn't have cut myself.

- - - Boromir - - -

Morning came before I knew it. I looked at Grace. She was sleeping soundly with Merry by her knees and one arm around Pippin. He admired her like a child would admire an older sister or companion. She didn't seem to mind, and gladly accepted Merry when he started to look up to her also.

After everyone was awake, we headed to the river. The Lady Galadriel gave us each a gift as well as giving us each a cloak. It was the lightest, yet warmest piece of clothing I'd ever worn. As we left, I swear I heard someone whisper, "Stay true..." I looked around but saw no one.

I was in a boat with Gimli and Merry. I constantly watched Grace, who was in a boat with Legolas and Pippin. Sam and Frodo rode with Aragorn. Suddenly Sam let out a cry.

"Over there!" he cried, gesturing towards the bank, "That log! It's alive!!"

Quickly, yet carefully, Aragorn stood up to look. With the grace that only elves possess (Aragorn also seemed to possess this grace - but that's what you get when you're raised by elves), Legolas also stood up. Grace restrained Pippin and motioned to Legolas that she also wanted to stand. He reached down one hand to her and helped her up slowly. With a charming smile, I might add.

Once she was up, the elf put grabbed her other hand. They stood there holding hands and looking towards the shore. No one seemed to find this odd, except me. I looked cool on the outside, but inside I was seething with jealousy. What was this elf trying to pull? Let him find one of his own kind!

Pippin seemed to get fed up with having to stay sitting down. Suddenly he stood up too. But I guess hobbits don't have any of this elven grace. The boat that the elf, hobbit, and girl were in moved sharply. This threw all of them off balance. Pippin fell right back down. The elf caught his balance but didn't catch Grace as well when she toppled backwards and into the water.

"Grace!" more than once person cried out.

Legolas' eyes were frantically searching the water, trying to see her. Everyone looked overboard. Aragorn started to remove the Lórien cloak, to jump into the water for Grace. Why did he always have to be the hero?

Before he could jump in for Grace, there was a splash and Pippin and gone in after her. I knew that none of the hobbits could swim. I didn't see why he jumped in. Without removing any garments except my cloak, I jumped into the water to save a hobbit, or possibly a girl. My choice was the latter. But of course before I could get to Grace, Aragorn had already surfaced with her. I hadn't even heard him jump in.

Without pausing, I took a huge breath and went under the water to find Pippin. He wasn't too far under, and I got to him without much difficulty. Swimming with him over to his boat, I looked up, just in time to Legolas haul Grace into the boat. I pushed Pippin, who was conscious, up for Legolas to take a hold of.

Aragon seemed to get into his boat with ease. It was harder than I had anticipated, since I was wet. As soon as I collapsed into my boat, I looked over to see if Grace was alright.

- - - Grace - - -

I was all wet. For the life (or whatever this was) of me, I couldn't remember why. Then I looked up into Legolas' eyes. They were worried looking.

"Hi," I said weakly.

A smile crossed his face. All of a sudden, there was a squeal and something hit me hard in the stomach. I looked up to see Pippin hugging me like he'd never let go. He was wet too. I tried to remember what had happened.

I had stood up to see what was on the bank. Legolas held my hands so I wouldn't fall. At least that's why I think he held my hands. Pippin had jumped up too. The boat had rocked and I had fallen out. Under the water I had seen the scariest thing I had ever laid eyes on. It was about the size of a hobbit, with eyes as big as my fist. It's skin was a greyish and it had bared it's teeth at me when it saw me. Then there was a splash as something hit the water and it swam away. I guessed that the something that hit the water was Pippin.

I sat up, which was hard with Pippin holding me in a death grip. Both of the other boats had come up beside ours. Aragorn and Boromir were dripping also. I guessed that they had jumped in to save me and Pippin. I felt incredibly embarrassed.

I lowered my eyes and mumbled, "Sorry."

Boromir reached out and brushed his hand across my arm. I looked up and he smiled comfortingly at me. Well, he didn't hold a grudge against me for not being able to swim very well. I looked at everyone else. Gimli, Sam, and Merry stared back at me with shock. Frodo looked slightly bored. Legolas was already looking elsewhere.

"Did anyone see what was over by the shore?" he asked.

It seemed that no one had. I had distracted them from looking. Once we were on our way, I pondered whether or not to tell Legolas about the thing I had seen. Maybe later. And maybe not Legolas. I thought Aragorn would be a better choice.

(A/N: Oooooh! Someone likes Aragorn. Stupid Arwen gets him though… GRR ARG! Anyways, clearly there's some crushes apparent by now. R n' R **PLEASE**!)


	5. Enter Gorillas

Just so I don't get sued: _I don't own any Lord of the Rings or any of Tolkien's works. They belong to the Tolkien Industry thingy… Stupid rich people._ The song for the chapter is **My Immortal** by **Evanescence**.

- - - Merry - - -

We pulled up onto the shore. I had no clue where we were. I kept hearing Aragorn and Legolas talking about Amon Lhaw so I presumed that that was the place we were at. We were going to cross the river at night into Emyn Muil. I heard there were tons of orcs over there. Even more than in Moria. I was scared stiff at just the thought.

I steered Grace off to sit on a rock as soon as she had gotten out of the boat so she could dry off. Then I sat down beside her and we talked a bit. I didn't want to help unload the boats. Let the big, strong men do it. And those un-lazy hobbits.

"It's beautiful here. What's the Shire like?" she asked.

After thinking for a while, I tried to describe my home for this girl beside me. "There are rolling hills and hobbit holes in them. The best thing to do is to go into Farmer Maggot's field and take some of his carrots." I clapped my hand over my mouth. "Ooops! Shouldn't have said that!"

Grace started to laugh. Then she reached over and messed up my hair, the same way an older cousin would. "Don't worry, I won't tell. Cross my heart and hope to die."

"What?"

"It's just a saying from where I come from. It means that I won't tell anyone ever." she tried to explain to me. I still didn't understand. So, I nodded and smiled. When in doubt, nod and smile. That was my way out of everything. That, and running. Me and Pippin used that one a lot.

I think she knew I didn't know what she was talking about. I could hear Pippin calling our names. He probably wanted us to help him do something. What a lazy ass. Well, I guess I wasn't much better, I had run off with Grace so we didn't have to unload boats.

Pip joined us and we spent almost an hour sitting in the sun, talking and laughing.

- - - Grace - - -

I had considered telling them. Really, I did. I could imagine all their reactions. Merry, Pippin and Sam probably wouldn't understand. Gimli would disapprove, especially of a lady doing that. Boromir wouldn't fully comprehend my agony, he would assume I was crazy and run off. Legolas would hate me. Just like Haldir would. They were elves. Life was beautiful for them! They loved to live and would be shocked to know someone rejected the chance for life. Frodo would be bored with me. He was too consumed with the Ring at times to even notice what was happening around him.

After our talk about everything, from stealing apples and food, to the Shire, to what we were going to do after our journey was done, we - Pippin, Merry and I - headed back to where everyone else had set up camp. Since I hadn't helped to set up, I decided to get wood for a fire that we would need later.

I wandered off far enough that I couldn't hear Gimli telling everyone how he had gotten a lock of hair from Lady Galadriel. A hair! Woohoo, let's all cheer, he has a piece of blonde hair! I had about three fairly big pieces of wood in my arms. Listening, I could hear someone speaking.

"Lend me the Ring!" It was Boromir. ¹

"No! No!" I heard Frodo cry. "The Council laid it upon me to bear it." ¹

I listened to them argue some more until Boromir sprung over a stone at Frodo. His fair and pleasant face was hideously changed; a raging fire was in his eyes.¹ I saw Frodo disappear and Boromir was left alone, yelling horrible things out to no one. Finally, he broke down and cried. I could only watch.

Suddenly I remembered the fate of everyone rested in the hands of one little, frightened hobbit. I took off to find him as fast as I could. I found a stone sort of platform. Suddenly, he appeared, falling of the top.

"Frodo!" I cried, running forward to him.

His eyes were wild and he ran back from me. Cautiously, like I would with an unfamiliar dog, I reached out one hand to him.

"I won't hurt you, don't fear me, please." His eyes pleaded with me to take the Ring, relieve him of his pain. "I don't desire the Ring. You must bear it." I said.

"I must go, you know that, don't you?" he asked me. I nodded and kneeled on the ground so I was almost the same height as he was. He looked at me and in that one moment, and understanding seemed to pass in between us. We were different than the rest of the Fellowship. Something separated us from them. Something that we had experienced that they never had.

I reached forward to hug him. He really was an adorable thing. I prayed I would get to see him again some day. Swallowing, I nudged him the way I guessed shore was. At the same moment, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Aragorn. He looked at the hilt of Frodo's sword - I could see it glowing blue - then nodded to Frodo, urging him to go.

I stood up and watched as Frodo ran as fast as he could. No matter how fast he ran, I knew he could never outrun it all.

"Go," Aragorn said. "Find some place safe. Battle is no place for a lady." I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off. "You don't know how to fight. I will find you afterwards."

Just him saying that he would find me after, that there would be an after, made me understand that I really needed to get out of there or else all he'd find of me were little pieces. In my last look back, I saw Aragorn duck, and hit a huge, gorilla-ish creature with his sword. Go Aragorn!

I ran, hopefully not right into those slimy gorillas, as fast as I could away from the stone platform. The next thing I saw was Boromir, sword out, with Pip and Merry behind him, fighting off ugly gorilla men. I yelled out a silent cheer for Boromir. My hero! Well, not really. That was Aragorn's job.

Well, I guess I cheered too soon. How can you cheer for someone right after they've been shot with an arrow? My point exactly. Getting hit with an arrow was enough to make Boromir faulter. He fell to one knee and most of the gorillas ran past him, picking up the hobbits on the way. I almost let out a yell then, but I didn't want to get caught did I? No, I did not.

One arrow was not enough to stop Boromir though. Oh, no. He took another two and was still conscious and trying to stand. What can I say, that guy was brave. I wouldn't be that brave when I had an arrow in my face. Granted, Haldir had done that to me, but Haldir wasn't a dirty, stinky, gross, vomit-inducing, ape man.

That, I took as my cue to step in. As Mr. Gorilla Boy was drawing his arm back, about to let Boromir have an arrow right between the eyes, I let out a Xena-like cry and ran forward. I smashed into him (I have to admit, it was quite the tackle) and he fell over, me on top of him. Needless to say, he was surprised. If he hadn't been, there would have been no way for me to get off of him and two feet away without losing some limbs.

Uh oh… I might have saved Boromir, but who was gonna save me? This guy knew how to fight. It was sheer luck that I had managed to knock him over. And I guess luck was with me because who should burst through the trees to kill this overgrown gorilla for me but Aragorn? While Mr. Hot Ranger Dude was doing battle with Gorilla Boy over there, I crawled over to Boromir.

"They took the little ones!" he gasped out.

"Shhhhh, it's okay, you're going to be okay." I tried to sooth him. Okay, I admit, that would be the last thing I would wanna hear if I was impaled on three arrows and _knew_ everything was definitely NOT going to be okay, but what was I supposed to say?

He must have known I was lying to him because he shook his head and said, "This is the end. At least I will die with honour."

Well, there's a kick in the pants! What was I going to say to that? _Yep, you're dying! _or _You're going to get out of here and you're going to make lots of babies! _Titanic anyone? God, gag me with a spoon. The giant gorilla over there, seemed to be trying to do that to Aragorn right at the moment but I thought he could handle it so I stayed with Boromir.

"Boromir," I said, trying to tell him my secret before he left forever, "I just wanted you to know that those um, cuts that everyone wondered about… were uh, caused by me. I thought, maybe, you should, kinda… I dunno… know if you… y'know… didn't make it." Wow, how lame was that?

I guess he didn't have too much time left to be shocked, so he just reached up and touched my face. "I'm sorry I never got the chance to show you Gondor. You would have loved it, beautiful one. Never give up hope in yourself or the Fellowship. "

Then, Aragorn decided to interrupt this little moment of ours; I guess the stinky gorilla hadn't been a match for him. I backed off to let them have a last macho-man moment. Without knowing it, I had been crying. I turned around, not wanting to see this.

And look who was here. Legolas and Gimli. Little late guys? Why didn't they come _before_ he got shot? One look was all that Legolas needed of me to see I was upset. Now, from what I've heard about elves, they're not really the touchy-feely sort. So, you can guess how surprised I was when he laced an arm around my waist and squeezed a bit. Good ol' Leggy! Gimli clapped a hand onto my shoulder. I turned and smiled a very watery smile down at him.

The worst was when Aragorn said we had to move the body. Can you say scarred? After we had put what was left of Boromir into a boat and sent it over a waterfall Aragorn just **had** to say: "Let's hunt some orc!" I hope I never hear that ever again.

(A/N: Haha! Poor Boromir… Oh, and I know the people were weird in the boats. I moved them around so it would all work out. I switched Pippin and Gimli and then added Grace in. I hope you don't mind! Sorry if I got the names of places wrong! Tell me in REVIEWS if I did. Later dayz!)

¹ The Fellowship of the Ring, page 390


	6. Éomer of the Riddermark

- - - Gimli - - -

We had been running for almost a day straight. As soon as Aragorn had said, "Let's hunt some orc," he strapped some weapons onto his arms and waist and went off running. Of course the elf followed without question. So what were the lass and I supposed to do? Stay there and hope that the Uruk-hai didn't come back for us?

The breaking of the Fellowship seemed to dishearten us all. It was over, we had failed. Aragorn insisted it wasn't broken if we stayed true to ourselves and Merry and Pippin. I still think he was wrong. The Fellowship would never be the same. We had lost Gandalf then Boromir. It was over.

At night we stopped. Grace collapsed onto the ground as soon as we had come to a stop. The elf looked up to see if she had just fallen or she was hurt. She was fine. And I thought I needed to get out and run more. I was less tired than she was.

Within three minutes of stopping and the lass laying down, she was sleeping. I felt some pity for her. She wasn't up to the same as us. Men were clearly the stronger sex and if you weren't used to running and fighting with little sleep, it could take its toll on you. We couldn't leave her on the ground over night so Aragorn picked her up and brought her into the light of the fire. Using his cloak as a blanket, he draped it over her.

- - - Pippin - - -

We had been taken by the Uruk-hai. I don't know how long we had been gone. They had carried us for a while then made us run. I don't know how much longer I could stand it. In a last attempt for help, I ran off the trail a bit and dropped the pin from my cloak. The Lórien leaf fell to the ground and I lost sight of it as the Uruk-hai forced me to run on.

- - - Grace - - -

If this wasn't hell, I don't know what is! I searched the ground looking for a hole to step in. If I stepped into a hole and sprained an ankle we would either have to stop or I would have to be carried. Either way, I would get to rest. No luck, I couldn't see a hole anywhere. I guess that some good things could come of this. I would lose some weight. But really, I didn't see anything else that could possibly be good.

We came to a spot that was all muddy and churned up. It looked like a herd of elephants had come through there. But more likely, it was a gaggle of gorillas. Suddenly Aragorn stopped. Alleluia! Resting time! We weren't stopping for a rest though. He looked at the ground, picked something up and then held up for us to see.

"The brooch of an elven-cloak!" cried Legolas and Gimli together.

"Not idly to the leaves of Lórien fall," said Aragorn. "This did not drop by chance: it was cast away as a token to any that might follow. I think Pippin ran away from the trail for that purpose." ¹

On the fourth day of chasing gorilla men (Would you wanna chase some gross, ugly gorillas for days on end!?) I was dragged behind a rock by Legolas. I could hear the sound of pounding hooves. A group of men on horses rode into a clearing.

"Put up your hood!" Aragorn whispered to me sharply. I had no idea why I was supposed to, but I had learned that when Aragorn takes on that tone of voice you obey. And I mean _fast_. Then, foolishly in my opinion, he stepped out and called: "What news from the North, Riders of Rohan?" ¹¹

That sure got their attention fast. They all turned around. It was almost as if they were one creature, they moved so concurrently. In about three seconds, we were surrounded and had spears, bows and such pointed right into our faces. Now let me tell you, this sucked. I don't like having pointy objects at my throat.

A tall, handsome man stepped forward. "Who are you and what are you doing in this land?" he asked. ¹¹

"I am called Strider," answered Aragorn. "I came out of the North. I am hunting orcs." ¹¹

And why was I not informed his name was Strider? Excuse me, this guy is like my saviour, shouldn't I at least know his real name? Stupid guys and their stupid nick names. Next thing you know, Legolas would want us all to call him 'Duke' or something equally stupid. God, what stupid people.

They talked a bit. Asking each other stupid questions. Again I say: what stupid people. Then this guy turned his eyes onto us. By us I mean Gimli, Legolas as me. "Why do you not speak, silent ones?"

I hadn't been called that since back in Lothlórien when I wouldn't speak to anyone. Then Pippin got me to talk. All of a sudden, I felt a rush of longing for the hobbit. Of course, Gimli just had to go and say some stupid things like telling this guy, that had a HUGE spear I might add, that he had little wit. I had been thinking this but was I going to say it out loud? Oh, no.

Then Legolas dove right in after Mr. Braided Beard and pulled out his bow and shoved it into Éomer's (he had told us his name right before Gimli had insulted him) face faster than you could say "paddy cake!" But why would you want to say that? I think "I don't want to get impaled, take your spears away from my eyes, please!" would have been more appropriate. But I must be the only smart one.

There was almost a fight, but thankfully, Aragorn (or Strider, whatever you wanna call him - he has too many names) stepped in. Okay, maybe I'm not the _only_ smart one. They talked again. I zoned out because it was soooo boring. It went something like this:

"Blah blah blah!"

"Blah? Yadda yadda blah!"

"Yadda yadda yadda! Blah blah bleh."

Pretty interesting hey? Well, I guess I shouldn't have zoned out that much because the next thing I knew, everyone was looking at me. What had I missed?

"What?" I asked. If Aragorn had wanted to pass me off as a man with my cloak hood up, I had just given it away. I think, and sincerely hope, I don't sound like a man.

"Take down your hood, friend!" Éomer said. I looked at Aragorn for guidance. He gave me a slight nod so I reached up and lowered the hood. There were some sounds from the Riders.

"Why would you bring a lady with you on such a dangerous journey?" asked Éomer. Good question. Why did they bring a _lady_, and I stress the word lady, on such a dangerous journey where she could so easily get killed? It looked like they didn't know the answer either. So, Aragorn made one up.

"She is my sister and is skilled. We need her assistance."

Sister? Yeah, good one Strider. You - need - me? Where'd you come up with that one? I tried to look as if I was useful in some way. I don't think it worked very well. Fortunately, we got two horses from the Riders of Rohan. I got to ride with Aragorn. That's right, Aragorn. My hot, now pretend brother.

But where we were going I wasn't too sure; I must have missed that part when I had been looking at Legolas' hair and wishing mine was that pretty. Yikes! I had forgotten about my hair! It was probably pretty gross looking after four days of running around and not being brushed. What would people think? Okay, so the only people who saw it were Gimli, Leggy, and Ranger Boy, but still.

- - - Aragorn - - -

Éomer had told us that they had found the Uruk-hai and killed them all. He said they had left none alive. It looked like our search for the hobbits would be over very soon. I felt pity for Merry and Pippin; they didn't know anything of the outside world, it was too harsh for them.

Grace sat in front of me on a horse. She was uneasy riding, I could tell the moment I had lifted her up onto the horse. I reached around her waist to hold her steady and she seemed to relax a bit after that. By no means was she a stupid girl. A bit childish at times, but not stupid. She had listened to mine and Éomer's conversation and asked the one question I had been dreading.

"Aragorn, why did you tell Éomer that I'm skilled and you need my assistance? We all know that I hurt the Fellowship more than help it."

Luckily, Gimli and Legolas were far enough ahead that they couldn't hear us.

"You don't think I meant what I said?"

She grimaced at that. I could almost sense what she was thinking. _Don't lie to me, Aragorn._

"You think I lie to you," I said to her. It wasn't a question. She nodded. I couldn't see her face but I could feel her body tense up at that and her breathing got more ragged. That alone told me that she was trying to keep a hold of her emotions. Most likely trying to hold in tears.

"But you don't need me," she said in a low voice. "It would have been better if I had never come." I could hear the tears in her voice now. I wondered how long she had been holding this in. Suddenly, I remembered what she had told me right after I had met her. She had cut her own wrists as a way out.

I slowed the horse to a walk. Leaning forward and turning her head towards me gently, I looked her right in the eye. "Do you honestly believe that?" I asked. She nodded. "Never believe that," I said seriously, squeezing her shoulder lightly for emphasis. Her eyes looked at me, trying to decide if I was telling the truth or not. Again, I noticed their odd colour. When she cried, they looked ever brighter and more prominent then normal.

I wiped a tear off her face with my thumb and she gave me a watery smile. "If you still don't believe me, Legolas, Gimli, and I could always teach you to use a weapon."

I felt her laugh a bit. "Me and pointy objects don't mix well."

Even I had to laugh at that. "Then tonight, we'll start teaching you to use a weapon, alright?" She nodded then. I was happy I had cheered her up.

There was silence between us for a while. Then, "Why did you tell him I was your sister?" I was surprised she hadn't figured that out herself.

"If Éomer and his Riders believed you had a connection to one of us, I knew the chances of something happening to you would lessen," I said simply.

Grace looked shocked. As if she never considered anything like that could ever happen. I gave her a look and she turned around to digest the information she had just received.

- - - Legolas - - -

"What's going on back there?" Gimli asked me for the seventh time. I looked back to Aragorn and Grace again. I had heard them start a serious sounding conversation and ridden off to give them some privacy. Gimli had figured this out and now seemed to think they had a love affair started. I reminded him more than once about Arwen but he wouldn't listen.

I watched Aragorn brush Grace's face. I had known him long enough that there was no passion in that gesture at all. He was fond of Grace, as were we all. But I could also tell by watching Grace that she admired Aragorn greatly. I didn't know if she was aware he was involved with Arwen or not.

Finally, the caught up to us. Gimli watched them intently. I think he took Aragon's arm around her waist as a sign they were romantically involved. I took it as a sign she was uneasy on a horse. No matter how many times I told him they weren't, he didn't believe me.

We reached the edge of Fangorn Forest. For the last several minutes, I had smelled burning hair and flesh. There was a pile of dead Uruk-hai, still burning. If the hobbits had been there, there was no sign of them now. We all hopped off our horses. Grace's face was disbelieving. Gimli looked in the pile of burning rubble for the hobbits. Suddenly, Estel kicked a helmet and let out a cry of fury. I had never seen him do this. Grace wandered towards the trees. She looked around her. Touching a tree, she looked like was about to step inside the forest.

"Arwenamin!" I called to her, "Do not enter Fangorn Forest. It is said that the trees talk and move. It is old and full of anger." Her face took on a startled look. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by an excited Aragorn.

"A hobbit lay here!"

Praise the Valar! Aragorn ran around frantically for several moments, telling us what happened. It seems Merry and Pippin had crawled away and had their bindings cut. But they were not alone. They had run right into Fangorn Forest.

(A/N: Anything from any of the hobbit's P.O.V is gonna be really short, not much detail. Just little things and not very much of it. It'll mostly be the four running around on the Plains of Rohan and stuff. Keep Reviewing dude[tte]s!)

¹ The Two Towers, page 414

¹¹ The Two Towers, page 421


	7. Misguided Arrow

- - - Grace - - -

Into the forest we went. I crept closer to Legolas without really noticing it. Then I bumped into his arm and jumped about a foot away from him. He smiled at me and reached out to touch my hand and steady me. I hoped that whatever was in this forest was very killable.

"Look!" cried Legolas suddenly.

"Look at what?" said Gimli.

"There in the trees."

"Where? I have not elf-eyes!"

"Hush! Speak more softly! Look!" said Legolas, pointing. ¹

I squinted and just saw the outline of a stooped, old man in white. Aragorn hissed something that sounded like _Saruman._ They started to whisper to each other about getting their weapons out to strike this old man dead. I guess he was pretty dangerous. Where I come from, old men are friendly and give you candy.

Legolas refused to shoot the old man from a distance, that would be unjust. Whatever. As long as I didn't get killed first, I didn't care when they shot him.

Aragorn gave the signal that they should raise their weapons. Legolas nodded to me to stay behind them. I was only too happy to listen.

There was a blinding white light as they ran forward. I saw Gimli's axe fly out of his hands. Aragorn dropped his sword with a cry of pain. Legolas shot an arrow. This old man never would have lived but he had some kind of invisible shield. The arrow ricocheted right off it. I felt a burst of pain near my right hip and then I knew no more.

- - - Aragorn - - -

There was no warning. She had no time to cry out. One moment she was standing and then I heard her crumple to the ground. I didn't take my eyes off of Saruman. Then Legolas spoke.

"Mithrandir," he cried, "Mithrandir!"

"Well met, I say to you again, Legolas," said the old man. ¹¹

It wasn't Saruman, it was Gandalf! Once I knew I wasn't in danger of getting attacked from behind, I turned and hurried to Grace. Legolas joined me also. One of his arrows was protruding from above her hip. I knew that it must have caused some internal damage because she had lost consciousness very quickly after getting hit.

I let Gandalf through to look at her. Being an Istari, he had healing powers I could only dream of. He could hurt or heal with one touch. Without any questions about who she was, he touched the arrow that was embedded about half my hand's length in Grace's side. Her face took on a look of pain.

"We need to get it out but we cannot risk tearing or straining any muscles," Gandalf said. But that didn't solve our problem of _how._

"We can't leave it in, Gandalf," I said, like he hadn't just said the same thing.

"Of course not!" he agreed.

"Then it needs to be taken out, Mithrandir! And quickly!" said Legolas. He looked more panicky than I had ever seen him before. Elves weren't ones to get upset, and Legolas even less than most. He probably felt bad for his arrow hitting her.

I bracingly put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at me, his eyes had some unreadable emotion in them.

"Take her hand," Gandalf told no on in particular. "Hold her shoulders down." Legolas took her hand and I braced her shoulders so she wouldn't move. Gimli reached over and took her other hand.

Gandalf slowly started to pull the arrow out of Grace's side. She let out a cry, but didn't wake up. I applied some pressure onto her shoulders to keep her from moving and hurting herself some more. Legolas looked into her face and held her hand tightly.

Soon Gandalf had the arrow almost out. "As soon as it is out, we will have to put something on her side. We need to keep her from losing more blood than is necessary."

Gimli ripped a corner of his shirt off and handed it to Gandalf. Legolas' fingers were turning white Grace was gripping them so hard. She still hadn't opened her eyes or given a sign she was awake. There were tears streaming down her face and she looked like a young child. Legolas leaned down and whispered into her ear and kissed her temple to soothe her.

With a last small tug, the arrow was out and Gandalf pressed the cloth to her skin under the edge of her shirt, which was now blood soaked. Gandalf motioned for us to follow him so Legolas picked up Grace like she weighed nothing, and followed.

"I'm sorry, arwenamin. Please forgive me," I heard him whisper quietly to her.

- - - Grace - - -

"Ooow," I wailed, "What the fuck happened?" I usually don't swear too much, but you'll have to forgive me, I had a hole in my side and it hurt **a lot**.

I tried to sit up but then I realized I was sitting up. Well, kind of. I was on a horse again (and as soon as I realized that I jumped - which hurt a fair bit - and almost fell off ) and I was leaning up against Legolas. He had one of his arms under mine, holding the reins, and the other kind of looped around my stomach, not touching my hip.

"You were hit," he said in response to my question. I was about to ask what with, but I suddenly remembered the arrow hitting the invisible barrier and bouncing off. Into me, I guessed. Poor Legolas. He was so kind, so _elvish_, that I guessed he felt horrible even though he didn't intend to do it. What am I saying? Poor Legolas? Poor me! I had a hole in my side!

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're heading to Edoras, to see Théoden King." There was silence for almost a minute and I could feel his tension.

"You feel bad about what happened to me, don't you?" I said, knowing full well he did.

"I am so sorry, arwenamin! I never meant for it to happen! It would have been better if it had hit me. 'Tis all my fault you're injured." I could almost hear the guilt in his voice. He hung his head. I grabbed his hand that was resting on my side and squeezed it to reassure him it wasn't too bad. Okay, it was bad, but I wasn't dying. I didn't think.

Without me really noticing, Legolas had flipped over my hand and was studying my wrist. The cuts had long ago disappeared, only to be replaced with scars that were quite apparent. There was no way you could miss them even if you only had one, quick glance.

He lightly ran his thumb along my wrist. Without speaking, I knew he was, again, asking what had happened. Sure, I trusted these guys, but did I trust them enough for this? Aragorn knew, but he didn't know the half of it. He didn't know how my parents had told me how much of a mistake I was, countless times. He didn't hear the kids laughing and calling out horrible things to me as I walked down the school hallways.

With no answer from me, Legolas sped up his horse to catch up with Aragorn and Gimli. Only then did I notice there was a third horse with us. It had an old man in white on it. The last thing I had known, they were trying to shoot this guy, why the change of heart?

Gimli watched as we came up beside them and his eyes fell to where our hands lay, entwined. I blushed a bit. It probably looked like something was going on here. Let me tell you, I didn't feel anything for Legolas. Okay, so he was good looking. Extremely good looking. Damn, he was just sexy. But still, I didn't want to get into anything.

- - - Gandalf - - -

Aragorn had informed me of the situation. Grace had been introduced to them in Lothórien. Galadriel had sent her along. I trust that Galadriel had a good reason; she could see what had not yet come to pass. To stop Legolas' arrow from hitting me, I had blocked it and it had hit Grace in the side. It must have been more serious than first presumed, she had fallen quickly and not regained consciousness for several hours. I hoped that Théoden King would welcome us and she could be healed quickly.

As we rode through the city of Edoras, we got odd looks from many of the people who inhabited it. It was probably very uncommon to see and elf and dwarf together. But it was also an injured girl, what would like look a wizard to them, and the King of Kings.

We came to the door of the palace and came upon the Doorward of Théoden, named Háma. He said we must leave all our weapons aside before entering to see Théoden King. This was not going to be easy.

- - -Legolas - - -

They would not part with their weapons. I had expected the dwarf to put up a fight but Aragorn also didn't want to give up the sword of Elendil. I disarmed myself without word. I knew Grace had a small dagger strapped to her thigh under her long tunic. Aragorn had given it to her as we pursued the Uruk-hai. With a glance, I told her she must take it off.

Finally, we were permitted to enter. Gandalf greeted Théoden King politely but the King replied by asking why Gandalf Stormcrow should be welcome. A pale man sitting on the steps of the dais, spoke then:

"You speak justly, lord," he said. "It is not yet five days since the bitter tiding came that Théodred your son was slain upon the West Marches: your right-hand, Second Marshal of the Mark. In Éomer there is little trust. Few men would be left to guard your walls, if he had been allowed to rule. And even now we learn from Gondor that the Dark Lord is stirring in the East. Such is the hour in which this wandered chooses to return. Why indeed should we welcome you, Master Stormcrow? _Láthspell _I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say." ¹¹¹

He laughed and fixed us all in his gaze. His eyes lingered on Grace and I could feel her shudder beside me. Gandalf then strode purposely forward, throwing off his grey cloak so the light from his robes was blinding. Almost immediately guards came running to remove him from the King's presence. Grace stuck out a foot and one tripped. She whistled and looked around casually as if nothing had happened. I smiled at her childish, yet working solution.

More guards came running forward to disable Gandalf. Aragorn, Gimli, and I held them off. Gimli seemed to get extreme pleasure from knocking Wormtongue over when he tried to run for a guard. Gandalf pressed forward towards Théoden. He cried out to Saruman, who had invaded Théoden's body. A young woman with blonde hair ran forward to help the King but Aragorn grabbed her around the waist and held her back.

I heard Grace gasp as Théoden King's face changed all of a sudden. He looked around and the young, blonde woman ran the rest of the way to the dais and bent down at the side of his chair. There was talk by all. Théoden went outside to tell his people one thing:

"We are leaving to Helm's Deep!"

(A/N: Well, ouch. Flames hurt. There have been a couple and they kinda put me down but I guess some of them actually have some constructive criticism. Whatever. Sorry, there won't be much from Gandalf's P.O.V either. I just don't know how to write like and Istari would talk. I'm trying though.)

¹ The Two Towers, page 481

¹¹ The Two Towers, page 483

¹¹¹ The Two Towers, page 502


	8. Giving In to You

- - - Éowyn - - -

I led the odd looking girl down the hallways to a room where I could heal her in private. It looked like she had been stuck in the side with an arrow. It went in pretty deep; a good shot. I wondered who would have done this to her. I didn't hesitate to ask.

She smirked in a way that suggested it was funny in an ironic sort of way. "It was a combination of Legolas and Gandalf." I left it at that; she looked too tired to explain the whole thing to me. Then I noticed some old looking scars on her wrists. They looked like they had been deep cuts. I was about to question her on that too but then the person I least expected walked in.

"Lord Aragorn!" I cried, smoothing my hair and skirt.

"My Lady," he said, nodding deeply. I watched him walk over to the bed and sink down onto it along with the girl. "How is it, Grace?" It? Almost as if he didn't have to acknowledge that she was injured. Just ask how It was. She shrugged.

She looked like someone who had lost quite a bit of weight in a short time. But not from being starved. From being active. Under her eyes, which were grey from what I could tell, it was shadowed. She hadn't been getting enough sleep.

I cleared my throat to let them know I was still in the room. Both of them looked up quickly. They looked at me in surprise.

"We will come again to see you," Aragorn said.

Grace nodded and he clasped her hand quickly before turning and leaving the room. In her eyes, there was nothing but admiration for this man. I probably looked much the same. On a small table, I had set a bowl of steaming water with healing herbs in it. I picked up a cloth and dipped it in the water. Gently, I set it on the gash in her side.

I heard her take in a breath and slowly let it out. I looked up. She had been studying me. I permitted a small smile to help her relax. Grace's face immediately broke into a smile. I was surprised to see how much prettier she looked when she smiled. Like a weight had lifted off her shoulders. I finished bathing her wound and wrapped her stomach with bandages. Giving her a light, cotton nightgown to wear, I turned to leave.

"Wait, Éowyn," she said. I turned to look at her. Again she smiled. "Thank you."

- - - Gimli - - -

Legolas, Aragorn and I entered the lass' room quietly. We dwarves are known for our ability to be silent, you know. But it seemed we didn't have to worry about waking Grace up. She seemed to be sleeping very deeply. I had never seen anyone be able to sleep while thrashing about so much. Her teeth were gritted and her chest was heaving. Poor lass.

"Please, just go," she cried out suddenly. Our first thought was that she was speaking to us. We all stopped moving and waited. "Why do you do this to me? I have done nothing to you! Let me be!" Her voice sounded raw.

I shared a quizzical look with the elf; perhaps the girl was insane? Aragorn certainly didn't seem to think so. He had rushed forward and now sat on the edge of Grace's bed, stroking her hair, muttering her name and trying to wake her.

"What happened?" She started to talk again. "Why didn't it work? Why can't I just get out? It should have worked!"

Both Legolas and I had taken several steps forward and were close to her now. I touched her forehead, trying to calm her. It was incredibly hot. The elf's eyes searched her face, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"Grace," Aragorn whispered urgently. "Grace, you have to wake up." Why whisper if you're trying to wake someone?

"I can't tell them. They can't know! They don't understand, no one does! No one could! I needed to escape! I couldn't take it anymore. I did it!" Her voice rose to a breaking point. "I did it! I killed myself!"

"Grace!" said Aragorn, more sharply than I'd ever heard him speak to her. Her eyes snapped open. She sat up swiftly and right into Aragorn's embrace. She squeezed her eyes shut as he held her. Like she was trying to block out the memories. Slowly he let her go and she unwrapped her arms from around his neck. She took a shaky breath.

"Grace?" Legolas questioned. "Are you alright?" She nodded, stopped and thought for a second. Then she shook her head. Poor lass, I told you she was a little bit unstable.

"You were yelling," Legolas reminded her. "Something about having to escape and how no one could understand. Then - then you said you killed yourself." Thick elf. Why couldn't he see, she was mad? I had noticed this and thought that it was her eccentricity showing through.

- - - Legolas - - -

She looked up hastily after I said that. I knew something was amiss. Her eyes looked at Aragorn almost pleadingly. She wanted help to get out of this. I had long suspected they had shared some secret. With secrets, there was no trust. With no trust, there was no Fellowship. I needed to know. For the good of Fellowship.

"Grace, what did you mean?"

"Nothing," she said, a bit too quickly. She knew I knew she was lying to us. I searched her eyes. She started defiantly back at me. In her eyes, I saw many things. A desire to prove herself to us. A fear of the future. A pain from the past. An admiration for Aragorn and - to my astonishment - me. A fondness of Gimli and his dwarfish ways. A need to understand why she was here. And deeper down, a shame of herself.

Much of it made no sense to me. I knew she wouldn't tell us until she was ready. I did not know the reason, but it hurt me greatly to think that this girl thought she could not trust me. Sighing, I turned to leave the room. Gimli stared after me. I motioned for him to follow. As soon as we shut the door, I heard Aragorn say, "Grace, they have a right to know."

- - - Grace - - -

I shook my head. _No they don't_! I wanted to scream. I wondered what all I had said and how much they knew. I really wanted to know.

"What did I say?" I asked quietly.

"You asked why it didn't work. Saying you couldn't tell us. That we could not understand. That no one could…" He trailed off. "I barely understood. By the looks Gimli was giving you, you'd think you were utterly insane."

I laughed weakly. Maybe he was right. Maybe they should know. But maybe he should know too. "You - you don't know all of it, do you?" I asked him. He shook his head, as I had expected. "I was never wanted in my family." I started slowly. "My parents told me almost everyday how much of a burden I was to them. And how ungrateful I was."

I chanced a look at Aragorn and I saw he had a disbelieving look on his face. Maybe this kind of thing didn't happen often in Middle-earth. I tried to continue with my story. "I had no one to turn to. We had moved several times so I didn't try to get close to anyone. There was no one there to listen to me when I needed someone. Everyone my own age hated me for some unknown reason. I hadn't done anything to provoke them."

"Then, one day, some girls cornered me. There was about six of them. They attacked me and left physical scars as well as mental ones." I moved the blankets and showed Aragorn a long scar on my leg. "I tried to escape several ways. Drugs, alcohol, music. Nothing helped me. I finally tried to end my life. That's how I ended up here."

By this time tears were coursing freely down my face. I suddenly felt foolish for wanting to unload my problems on someone else. I covered my face with my hands and wept. It was only a second before I felt Aragorn's hand on my shoulder. I took my hands away from my face and he hugged me hard. At least he knew. He might not understand, but he could sympathise. It was at that moment that I realized that Aragorn was more like the brother he had pretended to be to me than anything else. I was over the phase of aspiring to have him be something more than a brother-figure. I had closed the door on another part of my life.

"We leave tomorrow for Helm's Deep. That's the only place we can be safe," he told me.

I nodded to him and said the only thing I could, "Thank you so much."

(A/N: Awww, poor Leggy! BALEETED! Anyways, keep Reviewing; I got some sweet ones after I was all down 'cause of flaming. Yay! Nice, nice people!)


	9. Songs, Fights, and Braids

- - - Aragorn - - -

We had started walking at daybreak. It was estimated that it would take six days to arrive if we travelled quickly. The women and children of Rohan were walking leisurely and I knew it was slowing us down. Gradually, we all fell into step. Éowyn leading the horse that Gimli was on, Grace, Legolas and me. Gimli was trying to tell us a how there was a common belief that there was no women dwarves.

Grace still winced lightly now and again because of her side. Every time she would, Legolas would reach out and touch her arm or steady and comfort her in some way. I knew she appreciated the gesture. Even though she had told me a short story of her life, I knew she couldn't tell me how much it hurt her or how she was still recovering. She couldn't explain it how she really felt.

Éowyn, though beautiful, I felt had no sense of reserve. If she wanted to know something she wouldn't hesitate to ask. This was displayed when she started to question us.

"Grace, how did you get those scars on your arms?"

I heard Grace take in a deep breath and she stopped walking. All of us stopped and Legolas went back and took her arm. She threw him a glance and he bent down and whispered in her ear. Shaking her head at him, she hesitantly started walking again, Legolas' hand on her back.

"Lord Aragorn, which lady did give that necklace to you?" Éowyn, obviously frustrated that Grace had given her no answer, asked me.

I thought back to Arwen. The Evenstar. _My_ Evenstar. She had given in to me before we parted. She wouldn't go to the undying lands; she would wait for me.

- - - Éowyn - - -

I watched Aragorn get lost in his thoughts and wondered if there was something wrong with this company. Grace, who had looked light-hearted and happy before I asked her that question, now looked dismal. Legolas walked beside her, studying her face and touching her shoulder now and again. I thought it best not to ask questions again.

Gimli lightened the mood by continuing on with his hilarious story. "They think we pop right out of the ground! Dwarves do not just come out of the soil." The reins were suddenly pulled out of my hand as Arod started to run. He took several steps and Gimli fell off his back. I let out a cry and both Grace and I ran to him.

"Gimli," she said, "are you okay?" She lifted his helmet off his face to see he was indeed fine. The look on his face made us both burst out laughing and soon he joined in as well.

Even though Aragon and Legolas laughed too, I heard Legolas say, "Soon there will be nothing to laugh about. Let us enjoy it until then." That just makes your day, does it not? I hoped he was wrong and there would be no cause for sorrow.

Soon the light had begun to fade and the caravan settled to a stop. Blankets were taken out and fires were lit. Food was cooked and stories were shared. I sat near Grace and she started to talk to Aragorn. Of course, I was just there because Grace was.

"I thought you said you would teach me!" she protested.

"I did," Aragorn countered, "but I had no idea you would actually want me to!"

"Well, I do! Please Aragorn." Grace put a dejected look on her face. I could tell that it was working on Aragorn because he took a deep breath and looked at her, almost beseechingly.

"Alright," he said after a minute.

Grace let out a screech and jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. She thanked him and he smiled at her half-heartedly and wrapped an arm around her. "Come, let's find Gimli and Legolas," he said as they walked away, his arm still surrounding her waist.

She turned her head and saw me there. "Éowyn! Come with us, you can watch me fail miserably at my fighting lessons." Then she started laughing as I got up to follow. She was being so childish and happy it made everyone want to laugh and smile just when you saw her. I smiled and caught up to them. Grace started to sing. Her voice was thin but it was on tune.

I didn't recognize the song but after her singing it several times, I picked up some of the words and started to sing along. By the time we reached Gimli and Legolas, Grace and I were singing loudly and attracting stares from people. Legolas shook his head when he saw us but permitted a small smile.

"Poor Aragorn," Gimli commented.

"Poor Aragorn?" Grace asked. "Wouldn't you like to have the pleasure of being accompanied by the two most beautiful women in all of Middle-earth? Especially while they're singing so beautifully in their beautiful voices!" Gimli let out a snort of laughter and Aragorn laughed out loud. "What!?" she demanded.

"Nothing, nothing…" Aragorn said. Smart choice if you ask me. Unbeknownst to these men, I knew how to wield a sword. I thought I might learn something new and I wanted to watch Grace learn. What she learned was that she wasn't very good with a sword. She preferred Legolas' short elven daggers.

She was using them to keep Aragorn at bay while he aimed some shots at her. In one glance, anyone could see he was not trying to hit her. One of the knives in her hand went flying to the ground. Grace watched it hit the ground and then turned back to Aragorn. He smirked at her. I must always remember not to smirk at Grace when she has a knife in her hand. Aragorn clearly didn't know this. That smirk seemed to annoy Grace and she went running at him, knife bared.

Aragorn easily blocked all her shots at him and with a push threw her to the ground and the other knife slid across the ground. Grace's face was flushed and her eyes were wild. Anger smouldered in them.

"Lesson one, don't lose control when angry," Aragorn commented and held a hand down to pull Grace up. She took his hand and stood up. I could tell she didn't like to lose.

Then Aragorn said something completely unexpected. "Éowyn, why don't you and Grace have a go at it?" She looked slightly happier at this. I guess she didn't know what a Shield Maiden of Rohan could do. I took the sword Aragorn handed me and Grace went to retrieve her knives.

We both assumed a fighting position and, as I had expected, Grace attacked me first. I easily parried all her shots. She seemed to be losing concentration and getting angry. Then she must have remembered what Aragorn said because she backed off, taking deep breaths.

I swung my sword at her and she caught it in between both her knives. With a strength that surprised me, she pulled upwards and the hilt of the sword was pulled out of my grasp. All of us watched it hit the ground. Then Grace let out a scream of pure delight.

"I won, I won, I WON!"

She laughed and clapped her hands like a little girl. I walked over to her smiling. I knew I had lost and it didn't bother me. I had been training against Éomer all my life and had gotten used to losing. Not that I thought Grace was more skilled than I could be if we had been trying to hurt each other, but it was only a small match, there would be others. She threw her arms around my neck and I hugged her back. Catching Lord Aragorn's eye behind her back, he smiled at me. I hope I did not flush too badly.

"Good match, lass!" Gimli called to me. I waved a hand in response. Legolas had taken his knives back from Grace and he smiled at her, his hair shining in the moonlight. A grin spread across her face as she started running and whooping towards the camp. I ran after her, trying to tell her to be quiet or she would wake everyone.

"Grace," I pleaded, "Please, Grace! Be silent, you will wake everyone!" She sunk into silent laughter, but for the life of me, I couldn't see what was so funny.

Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas joined us near a fire and as soon as Gimli saw Grace he said, "Aha!" Everyone looked at him and I watched as he tried to think of something to say. "Aha!" he said again. I shared a glance with Grace and we both had to laugh then. Gimli was the dearest dwarf I had ever met. I suddenly felt envious of Grace, having spent weeks alone with these men.

- - - Grace - - -

I had been studying Legolas for some time. All my adrenaline had long faded after my fight with Éowyn and we were now all sitting around the fire; Gimli dozing, Aragorn and Éowyn quietly talking and Legolas staring into the fire. And me admiring Legolas' incredibly good looking everything.

"Legolas," I said, and felt as if I had shouted the way everyone (minus the dwarf) looked up all of a sudden. "Could you braid my hair?" The question startled him, I could tell. A glance he and Aragorn shared told me that maybe I shouldn't have asked it. Maybe it was very indecent for elves to go around braiding people's hair.

After hesitating long enough to make me feel like a completely idiot, a smile crossed his face and he said, "Of course." Unsure of what to do, I fiddled with my hair. Smiling again, Legolas came up behind me and removed my hands. Then he started the combing and braiding process that would take a good portion of an hour.

"It is uncommon for elves to braid and human's hair, is it not Master Legolas?" enquired Éowyn after watching curiously for a while. I lowered my head a bit more onto my arms, trying to hide it. Legolas felt this, as he was braiding my hair, and gently pulled my head back up. I couldn't even cover my face in shame!

A soft chuckle escaped Aragorn as he watched this and I glared at him. _Die, Aragorn, die! _I thought. With a loud grunt, Gimli sat up and yawned, thankfully direction the conversation away from me. "You awake at last, Master Gimli! Grace and I have been wanting to hear more stories of your travels!" Éowyn saved Aragorn from my wrath as she directed the subject onto something else.Watching Gimli inflate like a hairy, dwarfish sponge, I stifled a giggle. Aragorn laughed and winked at me, chewing on his pipe. If I didn't get angry and kill him, the smoking surely would.

I watched Éowyn as Gimli told his story. She would laugh and throw back her golden head and lightly smack Gimli on the arm or would reach out and touch Aragorn softly. As the story started to wind down, a look of sadness crept onto her face. She watched as Aragorn got lost in his thoughts and play with a feminine looking necklace. Then I realized it. Éowyn admired Aragorn as I had. This ranger had to stop breaking hearts soon.

(A/N: Wooooo, that took a long time to get out! I had been suffering from being busy, lazy, and having writers block. I'm also trying to finish the last chapter of _Alone_ for any of you who have read it. But again, writer's block, being busy, and laziness have put me off of it. Things are gonna slow down a bit. I rushed through things and was skipping days at a time before but now it will mostly go day-by-day. Review my pretties, REVIEW!)


	10. That's When I Knew

- - - Grace - - -

I woke up alone. I could hear Gimli's gruff voice coming from off to my left. I guessed that they were arguing judging by the tone I could hear Aragorn using. Did I even want to ask? I don't think so, I was going to stay right there and go back to sleep. At least that was my plan until Éowyn swooped down onto me and demanded we go clean up before the caravan started on its way again.

I rubbed my eyes and tried to stay awake as she dragged me over to what looked to be what they set up as a temporary washing spot with several small barrels of water. Aragorn wandered over, looking angry about whatever him and Gimli had been fighting about. Éowyn flashed him a gigantic smile and he grinned back at her. I could see her starting to flip her gorgeous blonde hair around, so I decided to wreck the moment.

It wasn't that bad. Honestly, I'm sure it didn't even hurt him! I mean, he deserved it! Okay, so, it put him in a bad mood for several hours but really, it was so worth it. I would do it again if she started to turn on the charm and he was just flirting shamelessly. Jeeze, what a hooker.

I picked up one of the containers of water and dumped it on his head. And let me tell you, I ran as fast as I could before he could catch me.

- - - Aragorn - - -

The sun had long ago come up and almost dried all of me. We were making good time and might make it there by the middle of the sixth day if we kept up this pace. I hoped Saruman would hold off whatever he was planning until then.

I watched as Grace danced ahead of us. She hummed to herself and seemed completely happy. I shook my head at her, still slightly displeased about what she had done to me that morning. She picked several flowers and wound them into a wreath. Setting it on Gimli's head, she continued dancing and singing quietly to herself, seemingly oblivious to the looks some of the citizens of Rohan were giving her.

Gimli took off his crown of flowers and looked at it. After studying it for a while, he seemed to think it was worthy to give to Lady Éowyn. Immediately, she placed it on her fair head. My mood lightened as I watched Éowyn catch up to Grace and start a conversation. Their friendship seemed to be blossoming right in front of us all.

A small child closer to the front of the line called Éowyn and she ran off, leaving Grace by herself. Turning, Grace spotted me and started to walk towards me. I gave her a sour look but she just ignored it and fell into step with me, still smiling and humming.

"Why did you do it?" I asked her suddenly.

She looked at me, seemingly unsurprised. "Why did _you_ do it?"

Why did I do _what_? I hadn't done anything! I opened my mouth to ask but she cut me off.

"She's an elf, isn't she?"

"What?! Grace, speak some sense! Who is an elf?" I was confused and she seemed to know this. Then she reached out and touched the necklace that had been a gift from Arwen. I felt a lurch in my stomach. Shaking my head slightly, I waved her hands away. "I don't - she - 'Tis nothing you need to know," I said finally.

"Well, there's the answer to your question," she said, sounding slightly bitter.

"What?" I asked again.

"You asked why I dumped water on you. Don't you see Aragorn? To you, Éowyn is like any other friend. If you were to see it from my perspective, you wouldn't see her like that again." She paused, appearing to be trying to find words. "You are just hurting her more."

I opened my mouth to ask _What?_ again, but then Legolas broke off our conversation. He was mounted on Arod and reached a hand down to Grace.

"Arwenamin, would you come with me to scout ahead?" A childish gleam came to her face, and Grace eagerly allowed herself to pulled onto the horse in front of Legolas. I watched them ride off, the sun about to start to sink behind them. Éowyn came back just then, and again I wondered what Grace had meant as we began a conversation.

- - - Legolas - - -

As Grace and I rode farther ahead of all the people, I felt her look back. She must have seen something to anger her because she seemed to tense up and become suddenly sullen. I stopped Arod and jumped down. Offering my hand to Grace, I studied her face.

She had changed so much. No longer was she the quiet, sullen girl I had once met. Now she was full of laughter and full of life. She didn't withdraw herself from us any longer. She trusted us.

Trust. Something about that tugged at my mind. I tried to think of it while I searched the distance with my eyes. I could hear her singing the song she had been singing yesterday with Lady Éowyn._When the answer to all my dreams_

_Is as close as a touch away_

_Why am I here holding back what I'm trying to say?_

_Lift me up_

_In your eyes_

_If you told me this is where heaven is, well then you'd be right_

_Hold me close_

_To your heart_

_I would go with you to the ends of the earth and we'll fly_

_I've been waiting forever for this, this is the night_ ¹

The words were beautiful. I hadn't listened to them when I heard her singing it before. I finally remembered why trust had stirred something in me. The scars on Grace's wrists had faded more than ever. They would not be very obvious if you didn't know they were there. I remembered the cuts that had been there when I had first met her. What had looked to be knife cuts. Aragorn knew what they were and why they were there.

Grace's face looked serene and it was almost as if she had an inner light glowing. She was close to resembling an Eldar when she looked this peaceful. The song had calmed her and as I watched her standing there in the long, flowing grass, hair braided, she had never looked more beautiful. As I studied her again, I realized that she wasn't nearly as attractive as Éowyn. But yet, there was something that drew you towards her.Finally, she turned to me.

"Did you see anything?" she asked.

I shook my head at her. She wandered over to Arod and patted him on the nose. The horse blew at her and she laughed. I watched this interaction.

"Legolas, you still wonder about my scars, don't you?"

I was taken so aback, it took me several seconds to answer her. Of course I wondered! "Yes," I said simply.

"Aragorn said you had the right to know. Maybe that's true. Do you think you should know? I know you want to." Grace's face was utterly serious. But she looked calm, still serene. "But you're an elf. You love life don't you? It's different for you than for humans. You have love. I didn't have love. I had nothing left to live for. I did this to get out of life. It was selfish, I know. I don't care, I had a fresh start here. I know I didn't deserve it but I still got it."

"I don't understand," I said slowly.

"I killed myself, Legolas," she said, also slowly.

"But," I began, "but, you are alive!"

She laughed again, but it sounded different. "I know. I don't understand how, but I'm alive. And I don't deserve it." Grace was silent for a second. "We should get back," she said, closing the short conversation. I nodded and helped her onto the horse.

And as we rode back, I realized something. I knew what she had done to herself but it didn't change anything. I knew resistance was useless. There was nothing I could do. I knew that the fight was over. I knew that this was right. I knew that everything had changed, yet was still the same. I knew. I knew I was falling in love with Grace.

(A/N: And here we go! And I think this kinda gives the answer to someone's question _Is this a Legomance?_ Yessir, yessir, it is! I think I made a mistake in one of the previous chapters. Did I call the city Rohan? I'm not sure. I think it might be Edoras but that's just a MAYBE! I'm not li'l miss genius, okay? Okay. This chapter's kinda short, sorry, I'll try n' update soon! Review, Review, Review!)

¹ Song performed by Clay Aiken on American Idol. "This Is The Night"


	11. Comings and Goings

- - - Éowyn - - -

Grace and Legolas had come back to the group late last night. Both had looked extremely calm. As if they had come to an agreement with themselves. I heard Legolas and Aragorn conversing in elvish after. My elvish isn't that good and they talked incredibly fast so I could only pick out a couple of their words. Legolas sounded strained though.

After that, Aragorn had joined Gimli, Grace - who was sleeping already - and me around a fire. Legolas went off to wander in the dark. Aragorn said he wanted some time alone. Quickly Gimli dropped off and I was left talking to Aragorn. We laughed and talked for several hours until the fire was about to go out. Finally, I realized I had worked up enough courage.

"Aragorn, I -" I turned to him, and realized he had fallen asleep. "I… I love you…" I said quietly, knowing he couldn't hear me.

I shook my head, coming out of my memories. I tried to focus on what was happening now. We were on our fourth day of walking, Grace and Aragorn were fighting happily about something, I could only guess what, and Gimli and Legolas were having a pleasant conversation beside me. I had thought that dwarves and elves hated each other. What happened to that? But I guess a lot of things had been different since the Ring of Power came into play again.

It was well after mid-day, people would start to get out food to feed the children soon. What were we to do if there was an attack on us? We consisted of mostly women and children. And as soon as I thought that, there was.

My Uncle called out to me. "Éowyn! Take the women, lead them to Helm's Deep! Quickly!"

I watched as everyone screamed and ran. Aragorn unsheathed his sword and Legolas sent off several arrows. Then I saw the wargs and orcs come over the crest of the hill. That put me into action. I grabbed a small child, called to everyone to keep up, and ran.

- - - Grace - - -

"Go Grace! Go with the women and children!"

Ahaha, not on your life, Aragorn! I was staying right here. I grabbed the two daggers I had sheathed on my thigh. They weren't Legolas' knives, but they would have to do. I almost lost my nerve as I saw big wolves come over the hill. One already had an arrow embedded in his side. Good ol' Leggy.

"Grace," Aragorn called to me again. "Go! _Now_!"

I shook my head at him. I wasn't going anywhere! He sighed, seeming incredibly mad for a second. I had never seen him like that. I thought he was about to push me after Éowyn and the children, but thankfully, there was nothing he could do. I readied myself as quickly as I could, hoping that someone would watch my back.

An orc came at me so quickly I didn't even see where it came from. I swung the short knives around and soon it had several deep gashes in its neck and chest. It gagged and sputtered but kept coming toward me. I took several steps back, about to swing again. I swung and as soon as I hit and killed the first orc, there was one on my left side. It lifted it's sword, presumably about to chop me into tiny pieces, but was stopped when an arrow found it's way into the orc's neck. It fell over, dead.

I turned around and saw Legolas, already firing more arrows off. He smiled at me and nodded his head slightly. Have I mentioned how much I love that elf? Honestly, he never ceases to amaze me.

Fairly quickly, after Legolas had saved me three times, the battle was over. I looked around. It looked like there was a fair number of the King's people lying on the ground with the orcs. Gimli approached Legolas and I. Where was Aragorn? It seemed that both of them had realized this at the same time as I had.

"Aragorn!!" I screamed out.

The three of us wandered around, almost afraid to look at the bodies on the ground. What if he was among them? He couldn't be! He was Aragorn, my hero, my brother-figure, he couldn't die!

Legolas called, "Estel?" There was no answer.

"Oh Gods," Gimli muttered.

I started to freak out. Then we heard laughter beside us. An orc was lying on the ground, cut up. He (She? It?) laughed again but it quickly turned to coughing and I flinched as blood came out of his mouth. Ick. He laughed again and then said something else. Legolas bent down to get something out if his hand. A necklace. Aragorn's necklace.

"He went over the cliff," Legolas said softly, sadly.

"What? No," I breathed.

Gimli clapped a hand onto my shoulder. Then before either of them could stop me, I took of the for edge of the cliff that was only about ten feet away. Damn Legolas. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate that elf? He snatched me back about two feet from the edge. I screamed and kicked at him. He grabbed one of my wrists and I tried to bite him but he moved his hand.

"Grace," he said sharply, almost shaking me, "calm down! There is nothing we can do for him now."

Slowly he let go of me, testing me to see if I'd run and try to jump again. I didn't. Once he had taken his hands completely away, I darted forward again. This time I had been so close I had seen the rocks near the river. Instead of just holding me this time, Legolas picked me up over his shoulder and carried me away from the cliff. I was not happy, let me tell you.

- - - Legolas - - -

The moment I set Grace down, I could tell she was unhappy with me. I hoped I had not offended or violated her in any way. She glared at me. I watched as she tensed her body up. I could tell she was about to make another dash for the cliff. Before she had gone four steps, I had grabbed her again around her waist and swung her around so she couldn't see the cliff.

"Let me go, Legolas!" she cried.

"No, arwenamin," I said softly to her. "I can not. Forgive me."

She kept fighting me. But slowly, slowly I felt her growing weaker until she stopped fighting altogether. Then she surrendered to my embrace and cried into my shoulder. I stroked her hair softly and tried to comfort her by whispering into her ear.

After what seemed like hours, Grace raised her head and looked once more toward the cliff. I started to lead her towards Arod, for he would take us to Helm's Deep. I held her hand to make sure she would not run off. And for once, she didn't try.

Gimli took one of the horses that had previously had an owner. I did not know where Aragorn's horse went. The remaining ride to Helm's Deep was horrible. The women had ran far enough ahead that they were there to greet us. Grace cried bitterly the whole way there.

Éowyn took one look at Grace's face and said, "So few have returned. Where is Lord Aragorn?"

Grace let out a choked sob and ran off. That was all Éowyn needed to see before her eyes also filled with tears. I left her with Gimli so he could explain, and ran after Grace.

"Please," I heard her say and followed her voice, "please leave me alone. I want to be alone." Her eyes were streaming and mostly green. She sniffed and forcefully wiped a tear from her cheek. "Why did it have to be him? It could have been me and no one would have cared."

It felt as if someone had grabbed my heart and twisted it right then. But since I couldn't say anything about how I felt, I reached out with one hand and grabbed hers. Instead of saying what I really wanted to I just said, "I would."

Her eyes looked at me and were filled with fresh tears. Then she threw her arms around my neck and wept. I held her for hours, until she was done crying. After she was done, she resignedly stood up. When Éowyn saw her, she threw her arms around her neck and started to cry again on Grace's shoulder. Grace patted her softly. I knew she had no tears left.

(A/N: How was that for a BEAST of a CHAPTE**R**? Pr**e**tty good? **V**ery good! Yeah, so **I**'m NOT going to t**e**ll you to REVIE**W** again! Subliminal messages, anyone?)


	12. Cracks in the Wall

I do not own Lord of the Rings or any of it's memorabilia.

- - - Grace - - -

We waited all day. Gimli, Legolas and I. They had given us our own little room, complete with dirty old mattress, and then left us to ourselves. I think they knew we wanted it that way. Our own time to grieve. I still couldn't believe Aragorn was gone. Even after several hours it still hadn't sunk in.

And so there I was, lying on that dirty mattress - probably getting several hundred diseases in the process - and staring at the ceiling. It had cracks in it. Lots of cracks.

"Do you think he could still be alive?" I asked no one in particular. They didn't have to ask who I was talking about.

"I do not know. I do not see how he could be. But we must not lose faith," was Legolas' reply.

Yeah, well, know what I know? I know someone had to fix that roof or when it rained there would be some very wet, very unhappy people. Also known as me. And what's this about "But we must not lose faith"? Helloooo! You just crushed my hopes and dreams with the "I don't see how he could be" comment.

I think Legolas got that impression when I rolled over and faced Gimli instead of him. Hey, lookee, cracks on the wall too. This whole place was going to collapse on my head, I just knew it. Oh goody. This just wasn't my day, was it?

I honestly don't think any of us slept until early morning. Well, Legolas rarely sleeps but I know Gimli and I didn't. Instead, we talked about all the things we had been through. They told me what had happened with the Council and in Moria. Then we talked about our homes. Wait. _They _talked about their homes. I didn't say anything about mine. I know Legolas wanted to ask but he was too polite to. It was then I realized that Gimli didn't even know about my suicide attempts. Unless Aragorn (when I thought that, I let out a sob and they both looked at me like I was crazy) or Legolas had told him.

Finally, at first light, I dropped off. Gimli was sleeping and Legolas looked pretty deep in thought. I was probably only sleeping for an hour before Legolas (did I say he was polite? I'm sorry, I take that back!) decided to wake me up. We needed to go for a walk. Actually, I'm glad he woke me up. I had been dreaming of Aragorn and it was driving me insane. We wandered around the fortress for a good portion of an hour.

Hásfeld, a man who I had met on the way there and wasn't too fond of, saw us and called my name. I took one look, saw who it was, grabbed Legolas' hand a ran. Soon it was him dragging me around. He pulled me into what had most likely been a food-storage at one time. It was a small room with cupboards on all sides, so as soon as Legolas had shut the door I was pressed up against his body.

I could feel him moving his hand down near my waist. It brushed mine and for a moment I thought he was going to link his fingers through mine. Instead, he brought it up and brushed a strand of my hair off my cheek. His fingers lingered there and I could feel shivers running down my back. After a moment he seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly moved his hand away. I could still feel his warm fingers on my cheeks and I bit my lip, turning my head to door.

"Is anyone out there?" I whispered, knowing he'd be able to tell better than I would.

Gently he pressed a leaf-shaped ear to the door. I had always wanted to touch his ears. I guessed that since he had let his hand wander on my cheek, I could take this opportunity and touch his ears. Lightly, I touched the top of his left ear and he froze. I heard him take a breath and I think I'm right in saying it was slightly shaky.

I let my fingers trail on his ears for maybe a minute before I let my hand drop to my side again. Legolas' eyes were closed and he swallowed. He looked shaken and I thought maybe he was sick. Can elves get sick?

"Legolas," I said quietly and he opened my eyes. "Are you alright?"

Swallowing again, he nodded. "There is no one out there," he said, and this time I knew his voice was wavering.

I reached for the door knob at the same time he did. His hand bumped mine and I quickly muttered an apology and withdrew mine. He gave me an odd look, you know, the ones you can't read, and opened the door. Of course he was right. There was no one there. We strolled back to the open air where we could see for miles. I watched Legolas scan the horizon and remembered the shivers I had gotten when he touched my cheek.

- - - Gimli - - -

The elf and the lass were already outside when I appeared. Clouds were hanging over us and I knew it would rain before the end of the day. There was a pain in my back from riding that blasted horse all day yesterday.

Then the fair lady Éowyn graced us with her presence and the day seemed a bit brighter. She reminded me of the fair Lady of Lórien. Her hair spread around her hair when she walked. It caught the light and made me think if the Lady's hair. Unconsciously, I reached and touched the hair I had from the Lady. I would treasure it always. Then the elf let out a cry.

"What is that in the distance?"

- - - Legolas - - -

I knew none of them could see it. But as soon as I knew who it was, I ran off, Grace behind me. She called me and I came to a stop.

"Legolas," she asked, "what is it? What did you see?"

"Estel," I said.

Her eyes widened and she started to run again. Easily, I caught her and took her hand so I could lead her along. As soon as she saw Aragorn I felt her hand tighten painfully on mine. Then she let go and ran forward, screaming. I stopped and watched her, smiling.

"ARAGORN!"

He almost fell over when she hit him. I could see a cut on his right arm and I didn't think she had seen it yet so I moved forward and gently grasped her wrist as she was about the throw herself on him again. I nodded to his arm and her eyes widened.

"You're hurt!"

Aragorn looked terrible. Tired, cut and bruised. But happy. Happy to be back with us. Then an angered look came onto Grace's normally striking face. She let out an infuriated noise and was about to say something when Gimli came up beside her.

"Aragorn," he said pleasantly and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Gimli," Estel replied, smiling. He soon stopped smiling when Grace hit him on the shoulder. "What was that for?" he asked, bewildered.

"Why did you do that?" Grace ranted. "They wouldn't let me come after you." She pointed to me and Gimli, who shared an amused glance. Aragorn shot a smile at me and I took my opportunity to get a word in.

"You're late."

Then I handed him Arwen's necklace. If you had not known him as long as I had, you would not have even seen the look of relief that crossed his face. I barely saw it. Grace looked back and forth from my face to his. Then she seemed to realize how tired he was.

"Come! I'm gonna take you to sleep on the lumpy mattress and clean your arm."

Aragorn laughed weakly at this and followed her.

(A/N: Mwahaha, they get closer and closer… will it never cease!? I dunno… Stay tuned to find out! Same bat time, same bat place! Don't forget to Review!!!)


	13. Elvish Blades

- - - Aragorn - - -

Grace took it upon herself to clean my shoulder (the one she had hit when she had hit me, by the way!). Legolas stood by watching and interjecting every once and a while when she was about to do something wrong. Gimli talked to me and I realized just then how much we depended on each other. But they didn't know that at least ten thousand Uruk-hai were headed in that direction as they laughed and talked. I talked with them, and for a moment, I forgot too.

I decided to break the news to them. Better that Gimli and Legolas knew sooner than later. And Grace. She would be in the caves, there would be nothing to worry about. Yet, still I worried. What if the defences weren't strong enough? The women and children would be helpless in the caves below. And I think we all knew that Uruks were ruthless and took what they wanted. There would be much bloodshed that night.

"Legolas," I started in elvish. "The Uruk-hai will be here by nightfall."

He nodded and also replied in elvish. "It is as I expected. How many?"

"Ten -" I swallowed, "Ten thousand strong."

I saw Legolas catch his breath and Grace looking from me to him in annoyance. Gimli let out a gruff cough. Grace started looking worried. I knew that she knew something was wrong. She knew I would have said it in common tongue if it wasn't that serious. Her eyes were large and full of fear. She wanted to know.

"Aragorn," she said softly. "Please tell us." I watched her hands tremble as she started to wrap my arm.

"There are ten thousand Uruk-hai headed this way. They will be here within hours." Her hands that were tying the cloth jerked at this. Quickly she regained her composer. I saw her jaw clench but her hands were still shaking. She seemed to be trying to steady them, without success.

After fumbling with the cloth for several minutes, Legolas gently took both her hands in his, steadying them. Then he moved them away from my arm and tied it. His hands did not shake. Grace had moved back to give Legolas space and she now had her knees drawn to her chest and head in her hands, gripping her hair so tightly her fingers were turning white.

I stood up and rested a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, her odd eyes burning into mine. I saw many things in there. She was scared of what would happen. Yet she did not want to be left behind. She knew we were going to tell her to stay in the caves. She wouldn't go without a fight.

I sighed. "We should go tell the king. Prepare him for what is coming."

After helping Grace up, we all left the room together. I think we all knew that there was no way to prepare ourselves for what was coming. For the first time in my life, I started to despair.

- - - Éowyn - - -

I watched as Grace, Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn entered the Main Hall to find my uncle. Both Legolas' and Aragorn's faces were set. Grace looked frightened, but determined. I couldn't read Gimli's expression behind all that hair.

I saw them approach Théoden, my uncle. There was nothing I wanted to do more than go and hold Aragorn and never let go of him. But, being used to not being able to do what I wanted most, I didn't. Instead, I turned around and started to take some smaller axes and swords out of a chest. I had to see if they would be good enough for battle.

On top of all the swords and axes, there was a small bag. Inside, I found knives. Not just knives. Elvish knives. Who knew how long they had been there, waiting for someone to find them? They looked almost new. No chips like you often find in swords. I did not know how to wield them, but I knew Grace did. I set them down on the ground, hoping I would remember to give them to her later.

I picked up a sword and started to swing it. I had learned long ago how to use a sword properly. I was a Shield Maiden. Born to wield a sword. I flicked my wrist and turned. The sword hit something. For a second I thought I had wounded someone. That's all we needed right before battle. Instead, I found Aragorn, knife out, right in front of me.

"You know how to wield a sword, my lady."

I nodded breathlessly. "I want to fight."

"You can not," he said to me.

"I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death!"

"What do you fear, lady?" he asked.

"A cage," I said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire." ¹

He lowered his small sword slowly. His eyes studied mine. I looked at his lips. I took in his eyes, the stubble on his chin, a small scar near his left temple. He was so strong. There was nothing more I wanted right then but to kiss him. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but he beat me to it.

"I do not think that will be your fate," he said simply and turned away.

I put the sword away with shaking hands and went to find Grace to deliver my gift of the elvish blades. Legolas would instruct her if they needed special care. Smoothing my skirt, and trying to smooth my nerves, I exited the Main Hall.

- - - Legolas - - -

Éowyn approached Grace. I had been watching her from afar. She had been talking with Hásfeld, who had somehow cornered her. I knew she did not like him, it was him we had ran from only the day before. I started to think about how she had touched my ear. I knew it was only curiosity, not any feelings, that had made her do that.

I knew I had to tell her soon. Hopefully that very day. If there was over ten thousand Uruk-hai headed our way, with as small an army as we had, there was little hope I would get another chance. Maybe I thought she deserved to know; maybe I thought she wanted to know; maybe I wanted her to know. No, I needed her to know. I would not die or let her die without me telling her how I felt. I would not let her die at all. I would not let Helm's Deep fall.

Again, I looked to Grace. She had brushed Hásfeld off and was now speaking with Éowyn. A bag went from the fair haired girl to the dark haired girl. Grace's eyes widened when she looked in the bag. I could hear her yell of happiness even though I was quite far from them. Éowyn's eyes also widened when Grace launched herself into the older girl's arms. Their laughter was beautiful. We would soon not have any reason to laugh.

"Legolas!" Grace called as she came running up the stairs towards me. "Legolas! Look what Éowyn gave me!" She was waving the bag around wildly.

Gently, I took the bag from her. Looking inside, I found two elvish blades wrapped in cloth. I was not surprised to see them in very good condition. It takes more to wear the knives of the Eldar down than time. Instead of congratulating her and asking many questions, I simply took her hand.

"Grace," I said, starting to lead her away, "There is something you need to know."

A puzzled look crossed her face. I must have looked very serious right then. I did not know what I would do if she pushed me away when I told her. Trying to lessen her discomfort, I let go of her hand and walked beside her. I could sense that she was apprehensive about what I was going to say. She almost seemed to get smaller when scared.

When we entered a small, deserted room, I turned around to face her. Her face was solemn and her eyes frightened. I hated to see her look like that. Smiling a bit, I touched her cheek. She seemed to visibly relax at my smile. I opened my mouth to tell her what I had come to say. I would have to pick my words carefully.

(A/N: Uh oh, did I leave ya hanging? Yes! Go me! And yeah, someone told me to take the inch that I had left. I am, oh, I am. Admitting it's the first step, isn't it? I think so! Well, things are progressing at Helm's Deep. Next chapter: Legolas admits his love, Grace's reaction, **and** a visitor! I'm sorry if I messed something up hardcore in this chapter or any other. Oh, and in a Review, someone asked who Hásfeld is. He's basically just a character I made up. A citizen of Rohan. He wants Grace [who doesn't?] but she thinks he's annoying. He's not going to be a main character, don't worry! Maybe I'll kill him in the battle scene? What do you think? I wanna have 100 Reviews after this chapter! So, GO REVIEW!)

¹ The Return of the King, page 767.


	14. October

This chapter is named for a song. Again by **Evanescence**. My new favorite.

- - - Grace - - -

I was afraid.

What had Legolas brought me here for? My heart had been racing and I thought someone had died until he reached out to me and smiled. It was like a ray of hope through clouds for me. Maybe no one died after all. Maybe I was overreacting.

Legolas gently took one of my hands in his then. Stroking it lightly with his fingers, he started to speak.

"Tonight there will be a battle. A battle for life and death; for freedom or captivity. And there is a chance that we, all of us, will not come through the battle. But I will not die without telling you the truth."

I was utterly confused. The truth? What truth? Some of the confusion must have showed on my face because Legolas, once more gently, took my face in his hands and tilted it towards him. I could feel the shivers, not entirely unpleasant, running up and down my back again.

"I love you, Grace."

"What?!" I yelled, ripping out of his grasp. "There must be some mistake!"

He shook his head, almost sadly. As if it caused him pain to love me. This was horrible! This was unthinkable! This was totally wrong! This was… this was… bad. Really bad. He was an elf! I was… well, to put it bluntly, ME! How could anyone love me? My own parents never loved me!

I almost wished he had told me someone had died. It would have been preferable to this.

I let out some astounded sounding noises, turned on my heel and fled. I could hear his voice calling after me. I know! It was immature of me. Sorry, but I couldn't stay there for any longer! What happened to Legolas the Friendly Elf¹? Now he's Legolas the I-Love-You Elf¹!?

This could not be happening. This could not be happening. I repeated that to myself over and over as I ran unseeingly down the hall. In my haste, I ran right into Aragorn. I let out an enraged cry, picked myself off the ground and kept walking.

"Grace!"

"Go away," I snapped over my shoulder.

There was a hand on my shoulder. Without thinking I turned around stopping Aragorn right in his tracks. His face was mere centimetres from mine when he stopped. Taking a small step back, he studied my eyes which must have been looking pretty wild right then.

My breathing gradually slowed and I tried to get a grip on what I was feeling. Anger. But why? Because Legolas _loved_ me? That was no reason to be angry. Maybe I was mad because I knew I couldn't and wouldn't return it. It would be my fault. Maybe I was angry because I felt he had ruined the friendship was had formed.

"What is wrong?" he asked my quietly.

Closing my eyes as if when I couldn't see him, he wouldn't be there, I pondered whether or not to answer him. I had trusted him with my secret for months before I had told anyone else (minus Boromir). He hadn't said anything. I could trust him, couldn't I?

Slowly he pulled me into a hug. It felt like something a brother would do. I could feel my resolve not to tell or cry breaking. Against my will, tears started streaming from my eyes. When he pulled back, hands on my shoulders, to look at my face, I could tell he was startled. Now he really knew something was wrong. I didn't just go around crying for no reason.

"Tell me. Please."

- - - Legolas - - -

After Grace had fled from the room, I didn't bother following her. She needed to time to adjust to this vast change. I hoped she didn't do anything in the spur of the moment. She had seemed so irate. I had seen people sad, ecstatic and many other things when they found out someone loved them. But mad? Never mad.

What if she did not return my love? It was known that elves can die from grief. I never thought that I would consider myself one of them. But I could feel the pang of loss already. If only she had not fled before telling me how she felt! I would find Aragorn. He would tell me what I must do.

- - - Éowyn - - -

Grace and Aragorn approached me. Aragorn's arm circled Grace's waist and her eyes looked red from tears. I wondered what was wrong. But before I could ask, Legolas and Gimli appeared. Was it just me or did Grace stiffen and look at the ground as soon as they came into view?

Aragorn leant over and whispered something to Grace. I writhed with jealousy even though I knew she did not think of Aragorn like that. And all you had to do was watch him to see that Aragorn thought of Grace as nothing more than a younger friend or sibling. I noticed Legolas was watching that also. His blue eyes were focussed on Aragorn's lips that were EXTREMELY close to Grace's ear. The elf's eyes were narrowed and his mouth was set in a line. Gimli looked back and forth between the four of us, seemingly confused.

"It is time for you to go to the caves," Aragorn said.

Grace's eyes got huge for a second then narrowed. She stepped away from Aragorn's embrace (something I would never do) and yelled, "What!?! You're not sending me to the caves! I know how to fight! I'm not being left there while you're all up here _dying_."

"Grace, you knew we would send you there, you're going." Aragorn's voice was firm. "Éowyn will be there as well. You won't be alone."

Letting out and enraged cry, Grace threw her hands into the air. "I can't believe you! I'm NOT going. I'm going to sit right here." She sat down on the ground.

Letting out a sigh, Aragorn bent down and grabbed her. She seemed to figure out what was happening at the last moment. But by then it was too late. Aragorn already had her thrown over his shoulder and was walking away. She kicked and screamed as I followed in silence. Gimli threw me an amused glance but Legolas was still watching Grace.

She caught his eye and for a second stopped struggling. Then, deliberately, she turned her face away from him.

"ARAGORN! Put me down **right now**!"

I heard him laugh. A beautiful laugh. One of the things I loved most about him. Not that I didn't love everything about him. Then Grace spoke in a language I could tell none of us recognized.

"Tu es trés bête!" ¹¹

Another quizzical glance passed from Gimli to me and this time Legolas joined in. No one knew what she said but I presumed it was some kind of insult. Grace finally stopped kicking and screaming. I could tell Aragorn was relieved because I heard him sigh. I guess Grace must have heard it too because she kicked him suddenly. There was a satisfied smirk on her face when she felt her foot connect with his stomach.

We had arrived at the caves. After walking inside, Aragorn set Grace down. She stood and tried to run but was grabbed around the waist by Legolas. She pushed herself away from him so quickly it looked like he had burned her. Aragorn looked at me.

"Don't let her run off Éowyn. Grace," he bent down to her level, "stay here. Please."

For once she didn't glare at him. Instead she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Stroking her hair lightly and kissing her forehead and cheeks, he stood up. Grace then wrapped Gimli in a hug. He let out a gruff cough but patted her back lightly. I was surprised that Grace ever permitted Legolas a small hug before they left. There was something odd going on between them.

I watched wives kiss their husbands and sons goodbye. This could be their last chance to see them. I prayed that everyone would come through unharmed but I knew it wouldn't be so.

As soon as the Legolas and Aragorn were gone Grace turned to me and hissed, "Éowyn, let's go! This is our one chance to get out!"

(A/N: Oh, she's a daring one, isn't she? Not really! LoL, what a baby, kicking Aragorn because he wouldn't put her down! I couldn't resisted putting the French in there, I just had my French final today and aced it so I wanted to show off! Anywho, I got like 16 Reviews or something like that since I put out the last chapter and I have to say… **YOU GUYS KICK ASS**!)

¹ ™

¹¹ I'm using my knowledge of French here. Translation: "You are so stupid!"


	15. Good Luck

- - - Grace - - -

"Come on Éowyn!" I cried, pulling on her arm. She resisted me which only made me more irritated. Letting out a huge sigh and stopped pulling on her arm. "What's up with this?" I cried, knowing she probably wouldn't recognize the phrase. "I thought you craved going to battle and proving you were worthy to kick some orc ass!"

Éowyn shook her head at me, tears starting to course down her face. We both sunk down to the ground, my gripping her arms and her holding her face. "What? What is it? What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I can't do it," she whispered finally. "I can't go."

I stood up, not mad, not anything. So I was going alone. I took one of her hands and squeezed it hard in mine. "I _will_ be back."

Tears still coursed down her face silently as she squeezed my hand back. She wasn't even thinking about how Aragorn had told her to keep me there. I hoped she wouldn't remember until I was long gone. As I left I heard her whisper, "Good luck."

Once out of the caves, I took a quick look around to make sure no one was there. The coast was clear. Suddenly I looked down and my wrists and saw my scars. I wanted to make sure we all lived through this. I was ready for them to know the whole story. Walking to where I thought a storage-room might be, I started muttering to myself.

My blood is all around me

On my face and hair

It's gushing from my wrists

Does anybody care?

I used to hate the scars

Then I'd only bruise

But then I started cutting

Nothing left to lose

I've stopped running now

There's no where left to go

I'm sorry Mom, the floor is stained

With my blood flow

Wanting life is hopeless

I have no will to live

It's amazing all the abuse

Kids our age can give

I won't live with all the sorrow

I won't live with all the pain

I won't take another breath

My heart won't beat again ¹

I didn't even notice I had been speaking one of my poems aloud until I was almost at the end. It had been my favorite out of my poems. I had titled it _Blood_. I had memorized it because I was asked to read it aloud in class once. The teacher had thought I had written it out of imagination. Yeah, imagination. Sure. Whatever works for you.

Finally I walked into a storage-room (I checked to make sure there was no one inside first) and looked at the spare pieces of assorted chain mail and swords. I didn't need a sword, I had the elvish knives tucked into my belt. I took them out, whirling them in my hands for a minute. Then I realized I had to hurry so I wasn't caught.

Hurriedly, I pulled on some arm guards that I found that fit nicely enough. I figured that if I would be using my hands and wrists that much, I'd need extra protection. I couldn't find any mail that fit me properly so I had to settle for an extra shirt. Hoping that I wouldn't take a knife to the chest or back, I started to head out towards the open air where all the "soldiers" were.

As I went out into the open, I saw that men were opening the doors and a group of people were coming in. At first I thought it was the Uruk-hai until I took a closer look. Elves. _Elves_!?! What? From what I'd heard, men and elves didn't get along that well. And leading the group was Haldir. I almost ran to talk to him but stopped myself when I saw Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli approaching him. I'd have to be pretty careful to pull this off.

- - - Haldir - - -

As we entered Helm's Deep, I approached Théoden King. He lowered his head respectfully when I approached him.

"It is said that men and elves once fought side by side as allies. We have come to honour that allegiance," I said to him and he looked up at me, seemingly impressed. I was not normally fond of humans but I was respectful to them. They had often felt resentment because of the Eldar were immortal and had keener senses. Men could not be immortal. They would kill each other off within one hundred years.

Legolas, Estel, and the dwarf, Gimli, came to speak with me.

"Welcome Haldir," Estel said. Legolas just clasped my arm in greeting. The dwarf grunted. Was that really how they greeted each other? They were not dignified enough for words?

I asked about Grace, for I had not forgotten her. I did not see her there and when I saw Legolas look up sharply there was something about it I did not like. Elves and humans did not mix. _Stay to your own kind_, I wanted to tell him. He knew me well enough to see I had noticed his reaction and know what I was thinking. He would have to be careful around me from now on.

As I studied the poorly prepared townsfolk, I heard the dwarf say, "It is said that humans were often jealous because of elves' immortality. Is it true?"

Aragorn nodded but said, "Humans can be immortal also, Gimli." I opened my mouth to protest. "Immortality isn't living forever. It is not fearing death. When you live forever, you do not fear death. Humans will always try to cheat death because they are afraid of it. They have always thought that being immortal meant living forever. Few are wise enough to see that it is not so."

Legolas nodded his agreement, his mind off somewhere else, I could tell. Maybe with Grace? I excused myself to explore the legendary Helm's Deep. I was walking, admiring the strong, thick wall, when I bumped into someone. I turned quickly to offer apologies. I found myself face to face with green-grey eyes. Eyes I recognised.

"Grace?" I asked, astonished.

"Haldir! Oh, my God! Don't tell Aragorn, please!"

I laughed. What had she done now? ""What should I not tell Estel?"

"Don't tell him you saw me. I'm not supposed to be here. They tried to send me to the caves. But I know how to fight with these -" I was astonished to see she held elvish blades "- and I couldn't just stay there and leave them alone. I don't care if they see me here once the battle's on. They can't just pick me up and take me to the caves then. I don't want to go to the caves, please Haldir, don't tell Aragorn or Gimli or Legolas!" Her eyes pleaded with me.

She had changed so much! Her dark, straight hair was longer and windblown. Her eyes were happier looking than I had ever seen them ever in Lothlórien. She was more willowy looking also. The Fellowship had done her good. My eyes swept her arms and as I had expected I saw scars on her wrists. But they were faint and wouldn't be obvious from a distance.

"Of course, mellonamin¹¹. I will not tell him if you ask me not to."

"Thank you so much, Haldir!" she cried, throwing her arms around my neck. It was very rare for me to let a human get close to me at all, let alone touch me. But with Grace, I found I did not mind. She was an alluring young girl, I saw now. Since leaving my forest with the Fellowship she had blossomed like a flower and I found that that side appealed to me. I could almost understand the attraction for her I had seen in Legolas.

"You have become very beautiful since I have last seen you, lothamin¹¹¹," I told her and I saw a blush creep up into her cheeks as she mumbled a thanks. After I silence between us, I knew I should take my leave. "Good luck in the battle. I will watch out for you."

"Good luck, Haldir," she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck once more. "It was great to see you." After brushing her lips across my cheek, she vanished. She had more of an effect on me than I wanted to admit, especially to Legolas.

I heard growling and thumping. As I made my way back to the outer wall, I could see everyone lining up. All my men had their bows out and armed. I knew the Uruk-hai had arrived at last.

(A/N: Yay! Like the chappy? Personally I thought it was kinda lame so I don't blame you if you do. Ppphhht, stupid me and my lamety! But anywho, REVIEW IT, no matter how lame it is!!! Until next time…)

¹ Another poem written by me. Please don't take without asking permission!

¹¹ Elvish. I don't know if it's correct but I hope so! Translation: _my friend_

¹¹¹ More elvish. Again, I don't know if it's correct but I hope so. Translation: _my flower_


	16. The Battle Begins

- - - Aragorn - - -

It had started to rain long ago. And as the rain poured down on us in the dark, the Uruk-hai arrived. All the elves and some men lined up with bows and arrows. Legolas and Gimli were teasing each other good naturedly and I heard Legolas ask Gimli if he would want a box to see the Uruks. Shaking my head and smiling slightly, I said to the men, "Show them no mercy for you shall receive none!" I repeated it in elvish for the elves who didn't understand common tongue.

I saw Haldir come back to the front line and draw his bow and arrows. A slight smile was on his face despite the situation. The men had their bows armed and drawn, I only had to signal and they would fire. We had to wait for the right time. An arrow suddenly flew through the air without command and hit an Uruk-hai in the chest. Everyone was silent as the Uruk crumpled. Then there was a roar from the enemy and war was upon us.

Ladders with hooks were thrown over the Deeping Wall. Some we were able to push back several of the ladders but the Uruk-hai started climbing over the top. The elves were now letting their arrows go without command but as the Uruks started pouring over the wall, they took out knives instead. Legolas was already slashing orcs right and left with his. It reminded me yet again of Grace and all the women inside the caves.

There was a roar as Gimli brought his axe back and slashed through several Uruks at once. "That's seven, Legolas!" he called over his shoulder.

"Seven?" the elf replied, "I'm on twelve!"

Another roar was heard from Gimli as whacked at the orcs with renewed strength. Laughing at them again, I concentrated on my task at hand until I heard someone call my name.

"ARAGORN! Behind you!!!!"

I prayed to the Valar that it wasn't who it sounded like.

- - - Grace - - -

With a flick of his wrist and turn, Aragorn turned and made a lethal cut on Gorilla Man behind him.

"Boom, bitch goes down!" I yelled to no one in particular.

I saw Aragorn turn to face me and that's when I knew I was in trouble. Big trouble. **Huge** trouble. No longer was I scared of the Uruk-hai. I was scared of Aragorn. Pretending I didn't see the dangerous look on his face, I continued to slash at a gross Uruk-hai that just wouldn't die. It was putting up too big of a fight and had actually managed to hit me once. Stupid monkey with hair.

"Grace!" Aragorn's tone told that if I didn't have an excuse, I'd be very dead soon. "What are you doing here?!"

"What - " I stopped to slash at an Uruk-hai that came up behind Aragorn. Smiling at my victory, I said, "There, I've saved you twice. You could show a little gratitude instead of looking at me like I've eaten your baby or something."

"You haven't answered my question" he said, turning his back to me to ward off more Uruk-hai. I did the same and we stood there back to back for a while.

"You left me behind again," I said to him. "Stop trying to protect me and let me protect myself." Suddenly I was incredibly angry although I didn't know why. I walked off, leaving him to defend his own back. I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do. Especially since that could easily be the last time I saw him. But it was too late to go back. Instead I found myself closer to Gimli.

"Grace! Lass, what are you doing here?"

"I'm saving everyone's back, Gimli," I said as sweetly as I could manage while being spattered with orc blood. I wiped it off my face and wrinkled my nose. Yuck, these things were so disgusting.

"Twenty-one!" said Gimli.

"Good!" said Legolas. "But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife work up here." ¹

Suddenly a yell came from where I had last seem Aragorn. "Bring him down, Legolas!"

I looked to see an Uruk-hai running with a torch to a small gap in the wall. The one weakness of Helm's Deep. Legolas shot once. The arrow hit, but the Uruk-hai did not fall. Another arrow was fired by Legolas. Another hit. Still the Uruk-hai did not fall. He ran into the gap. There was a pause, then a great explosion ripped through the night.

People, Uruk-hai, pieces of wood and rock went flying. I landed somewhere in a pool of water. My head hurt so badly. I felt a hand on my arm pulling me up. At first I thought it was Legolas, but then I realized it was Haldir. As soon as I was on my feet, I stumbled forward into him, trying to regain my balance. Elves and Uruk-hai alike had rushed forward when the wall had fallen. They were now locked in a battle far more vicious than I had ever seen.

I wipe my forehead and wasn't surprised when blood came away on my hand. I had a cut above my left eyebrow. I brushed a dirty hand across Haldir's cheek in a quick thanks before I departed. I saw Gimli and Aragorn about to go out a door. I followed them.

"I hear you, Grace. Why are you following?" Aragorn asked me. I smiled. I really loved this guy. He didn't even sound mad with me anymore. Just tired.

"I'm coming with you."

We slipped out a small door. I saw the stairs coming up to the Deeping Wall were covered in Uruk-hai.

"Jump Gimli," Aragorn urged him.

"It's too far. You're going to have to toss me."

"Toss you?" he questioned.

Nodding, Gimli said, "Don't tell the elf."

I shared a quick laughing glance with Aragorn before Gimli was airborne. He landed and knocked off several Uruk-hai. He had his axe out slashing almost before he had landed. Without warning, Aragorn had picked me up too. I shrieked and grasped him.

"Let go Grace. Do you think you could jump it?" I shook my head at him. "Then I'm throwing you too."

I had a moment to look right into his eyes before I too was airborne. Aragorn jumped right after me. We would fight together. This is the way it should be. I smiled at both Gimli and Aragorn before I started hacking at the Uruk-hai.

(A/N: Yeh! Go Grace, GO! Well I updated before. On about the 26th of July but since I replaced my Notice, it said I hadn't updated. Weird isn't it? Sorry if this chapter wasn't up to your expectations. It wasn't up to mine either. I'm not so good at writing battle scenes. Soon it'll be Haldir's end, them riding on horses, and Gandy coming to save them all. Anywho, I'll be home until the 15th and then back on the 24th for about six more days. Very busy I am. You should also be busy with Reviewing. See you soon.)

¹ The Two Towers, page 524


	17. Elves Fall Too

- - - Grace - - -

We killed orc after orc until they seemed to understand they needed to send more to overpower us. The door we had come through was off-limits for going back; the ledge was small and neither Gimli or I could jump that far. I was starting to get tired when I saw Aragorn look up. He yelled something and soon there was a thick rope thrown to us.

Backing up slowly, but slashing at the Uruk-hai the whole way, we approached the rope. Gimli and Aragorn grabbed onto it and as it started to be raised, I felt Aragorn grab me hard around the waist. I clutched at the rope, not wanting to fall back down to the blood-stained stairway below me. A pair of strong hands grabbed me when we had reached the top of the wall. I was pulled over and I stumbled and fell into the person holding me. Holding tightly to them, I looked up. Legolas.

Letting out a breath I had held the whole way up, I threw my arms around his neck, forgetting I had been furious at him only earlier that day. Slowly he raised his arms to encircle me. I could feel him brushing my hair lightly with his fingertips. It felt so nice just to be held that I forgot that we were in the middle of a war. I actually forgot. I didn't know Legolas was capable of doing that to me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Saving Aragorn's ass, that's what," I said, and I saw Aragorn smile.

We went back to our fight, this time all four of us together. I had noticed that there were a lot less people standing than there had been originally. Not only the Uruk-hai had dwindled in numbers but the humans had too. Elves seemed to be able to fend for themselves pretty well so most were still standing. I thought they were going to be the ones where most went home.

Until I saw Haldir fall.

- - - Legolas - - -

With the help of the citizens of Rohan, I pulled up the rope with Gimli and Aragorn on it. When it reached the top, it took me a second to realize they weren't alone. I grabbed whoever was with them and pulled him over the wall. He stumbled into me and I looked down. It wasn't a man as I had thought, it was Grace!

I thought she was delusional when her arms were thrown around my neck. Then I realized she seeked comfort. I held her tightly and brushed her hair, that had a coarse feeling to it. There was nothing more I wanted to do than to hold her until the battle was over and we were all safe. But I knew that would not be possible.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. I wanted to know how she had escaped from the caves.

With a smirk to Aragorn she said, "Saving Aragorn's ass, that's what."

I took her hand and we followed Aragorn and Gimli back into the heat of battle. I was astonished that Grace was allowing me to touch her without a struggle of any kind. When I had stopped her from running in the caves, she had thrown herself away from me like I was a live coal. Maybe this was a sign she was forgetting what I had said to her. I wished it would be so.

We fought together, the remaining Fellowship, until there were bodies of Uruk-hai piled up in every direction around us. I watched Grace swing her elvish blades and was amazed at the skill she had after mastering them only a short time ago. I had lost all my arrows long ago so I was using my knives and helping to take down as many Uruks as possible.

I heard Grace gasp and saw both her and Aragorn run off in the same direction. An Uruk-hai attacked me viciously so I could not follow. I glimpsed Grace as she fell to the ground beside someone as Aragorn slashed more orcs. At first, I thought Grace had been injured until I saw tears rolling down her face while she held onto someone.

- - - Aragorn - - -

I slashed at the Uruk-hai surrounding Grace and Haldir. When I turned, I saw Grace holding his arm with one hand and stroking his face with the other. Her small body was shaking from holding back most of her tears. I sank to the ground beside her and touched my forehead when I saw Haldir had already passed on to the land of the Valar. As I stood, I gripped Grace's shoulder and tried to pull her up.

"FALL BACK!" I yelled when I realized how outnumbered we were.

I grabbed Grace and scooped her off the ground and ran towards the one safe room in the fortress. Grace kicked and screamed trying to make me release her. I didn't let go and she kept yelling over my shoulder and fighting viciously. Once we had entered a safe room and barred the door behind us, I set her on her feet.

Immediately she ran towards the door and started to fumble with the locks and bars we had just put onto it. I started towards her but Legolas beat me there. He wrapped his arms around Grace's stomach and pulled her back gently, whispering elvish into her ear. Finally she stopped fighting and stood watching the door while Legolas kept whispering to her and trying to sooth her. She had told me about his confession and at the time had been incredibly upset about it. But as I watched her turn around and start weeping on his shoulder, you could see he held her with love and would have done anything to comfort her then.

We stood in the deserted room for a long while until we decided we had to ride forth or stay there and wait for the Uruks to finish us off. Gimli would go and blow the horn that was situated high on top of the fortress and the rest of us would ride out. As I looked out the window, I realized that the sun was about to rise. I remembered what Gandalf had said to us. I took a moment to pray to the Valar he would come.

As Gimli departed and Grace started to come forwards towards me to mount with me, I saw Legolas grab her hand. She turned to him and he quickly touched his lips to hers, almost in a parting gesture. Grace froze and Legolas walked over to Arod and mounted him.

"Grace," I called. "We must hurry. Come!"

She walked slowly towards me, brushing her thumb over her lips and a ghost of a smile appeared. I took her hand and helped her onto the horse and the doors opened.

I don't remember much of what happened. We fought for only several minutes before Gandalf led Éomer and his army over the crest of a hill. With a cry, the rushed down and most of the remaining Uruk-hai tried to escape. We prevented that and soon the battle was over.

We were victorious.

(A/N: Dum dee dum dum dum… How'dya like that? A little Leggy-lovin' for all of you that wanted it. I have a question for you guys. In the movie, where DO the horses come from that they ride out of that room on? Anyone know? Cuz I sure don't; maybe they lived there or something. Meh. Anywho, Grace isn't all of a sudden going to love Leggy and stuff sooo, wait a while and there should be some fluffer fluff. OH YEAH! And I want you guys to read another story of mine. It's new and I need some feedback on it. It is Escaflowne but you don't have to have seen the show or anything to understand it. It's AU and called **Amicitia**. That's right. Go read it. Now. No, seriously. C'mon you guys. No, wait. Review first. Then read the other one. AND THEN REVIEW THAT ONE! Mwahaha, don't I have the wackiest ideas? Not really… Okay, I'll see you guys soon, I hope!)


	18. Random Happenings

- - - Legolas - - -

Grace turned to mount with Aragorn. I fought with my inner self quickly and finally quieted it. I grabbed Grace's hand and as she turned I stepped closer to her. She was close enough that I could see the fear in her eyes. Praying I wouldn't regret it, I briefly touched my lips against Grace's and turned away before she could release more anger towards me.

I mounted Arod and minutes later, we rode out of the Keep, just as the sun began to rise. Fighting furiously, on horse-back and off, both men and Uruk-hai fell. New energy had come to all of us with the rising of the sun and I watched as Aragorn and Grace killed orc after orc. The horn blew loud behind us and it seemed to bring strength to the King and his men. Uruk-hai fell like wheat being harvested and it was at that moment I realized victory would be ours.

I knew it for a fact as I watched Mithrandir lead men and horses down to help finish the battle. Uruk-hai tried to run. But there was no escape. Men took out anger and sadness and all their other emotions out on them. They stood no chance against the Army of Helm's Deep.

- - - Éomer - - -

The battle had been over for several hours. Women and children came out of the caves to search for husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Some they would never find. My sister, Éowyn had come running to me, asking for Grace and Aragorn. I had seen them and they had been taken to a private room with the dwarf and the elf.

I was relieved to see my uncle had recovered well from whatever that snake, Wormtounge, had done to him. He walked around trying to comfort those who had lost loved ones. Gandalf had found us and led us to the aid of my people. Many owed him their lives.

- - - Grace - - -

Well, well, well. This was all too familiar. I was laying on a mattress between Gimli and Aragorn. And not just _any mattress_. Oh, no. The DIRTY one! In the room, you got it, with the cracks in the wall. Anyways, both Aragorn and Gimli were sleeping. I had been but had woken when Éowyn had opened the door and poked her head in. I pretended to be asleep as I watched her smile down on us before exiting as quietly as she could (which wasn't very quiet) to go be with her brother or uncle or some other distant relation.

I only remember Legolas being there when we had all come in. Almost immediately, I had taken off anything resembling armour and my boots and extra shirts until all I was wearing a thin shirt and pants. I had fallen onto that mattress so fast (not really caring about the diseases that would probably try to eat me) that Gimli thought I had passed out from exhaustion. Drifting in and out of sleep for the next half an hour, I caught parts of the conversation between the three men.

"How did she get out? You had told Éowyn to keep her there, had you not?" Legolas asked.

Aragorn sighed and said, "There was no one guarding the door to prevent her from leaving. I had expected that Éowyn would keep her there because I knew she would try to get out and join the battle. But she did make it through virtually unscathed, which is saying a lot."

I drifted off again after that and when I woke up later, Gimli was sleeping on one side of me and the other two were still talking. This time it was in elvish and I couldn't understand a word of it. After listening to that for so long I was almost sleeping again, I heard the door close and felt someone - Aragorn - lie down very close to me. Feeling cold without any heavy clothes on, I slid closer to him until my back was right near him. I heard a quiet laugh come from him and then he slung an arm around me and pulled me even closer until I was right up against him. Half-asleep, I reached up and grabbed one of his hands lightly and gave it a squeeze as if to say thanks or to tell him I was glad he was okay. After that I fell asleep for hours.

As I said before, Éowyn woke me up. I turned around and found myself face-to-face with Aragorn. I smiled and studied him for a moment. Then I realized we had been sleeping all day and Legolas was out wandering around by himself. Let him wander, I was tired again. I closed my eyes and plunged back into sleep once more.

It must have been night when I woke up for good. Aragorn wasn't beside me anymore, he was applying herbs and stuff to a small wound on his hand. Gimli was dozing beside me and Legolas had finally decided to grace us with his presence. He sat there watching me until I yawned and waved at him. With a small wave of his fingers, he turned his gaze away from me. I shuffled my way over to Aragorn's side to see if I could help him.

Big mistake.

That's when he saw the cut on my collarbone an Uruk-hai had given me. I had totally forgotten about it until then and when he started touching it, it started to hurt again. Then he insisted it needed stitches. When I found that out, I freaked. I didn't want anyone poking me _there_ with needles. But that didn't stop him. Legolas held my one shoulder while Aragorn leaned over my other to pierce me with needle and thread.

"Ow, sonofabitch!" I cried as the needle penetrated my skin the first time. I jerked and Aragorn _tsk_ed at me. _Tsk_ this!

"Don't move, it will only make the pain worse," he advised me as he shoved the needle like five feet into me again. Yeah, easy for you to say. How about I get to sew you up? How would you like that? Yeah, that's what I thought.

After he had sewn me shut, Aragorn tied a knot in the thread and bent down to bite it off. I froze as I felt his lips brush my upper chest. This was my brother figure, I wasn't supposed to feel that when he came close to me! It'd be different if it was Legolas. But then again, everything with Legolas was different. I didn't even know what was happening with us. After that kiss I was totally confused. Wasn't I supposed to be mad at him? It was hard to be mad at someone who kissed like that. Granted, it was a short kiss, a peck. But damn!

I looked down at my collarbone and found it was pretty gross looking. I think it looked better before he had sewn it. But what did I know? It looked like it would scar. Wow, I had quite a few. My wrists, the arrow from Legolas, and now this.

"Just what I need, more scars," I commented, smilingly. I saw the colour vanish from Aragorn's face and Legolas' eyes almost darkened several shades at that. Gimli let out a loud snore and turned over. "It's okay," I said. "Don't look so damn serious you guys. You can talk about it."

Legolas ran a finger gently up and down my wrist and I shivered slightly. "Why?" he asked.

I knew he was going to ask that and it was the hardest question to answer. I tried to explain quickly because it wasn't my favourite topic. "Pain. Loneliness and despair. It was hard to take it by myself. I couldn't." It was almost as if I was describing someone else's life. It wasn't me, it was a story I heard about some crazy girl. Maybe that's why it was so easy to talk about.

"Did it hurt?"

Aragorn's question took me by surprise. "Did it hurt? Well, yeah. Does it hurt when you get hit with a knife when you fight? It was like that…" I trailed off. Maybe question time hadn't been the best idea. I was losing my composure because all the talk was throwing me back into memories. I could almost feel the searing pain in my wrists and I wondered how I had stood it the first time. Trying to clear my head, I shook it and stood up. "I'm going for a walk."

I met Éowyn wandering around with her brother, Éomer after being gone for mere minutes. I was greeted with a hug so hard I almost fell over. Patting her gently on the back, I smiled at Éomer over her shoulder. He raised an eyebrow but grinned, nonetheless. Looking around, I sobered. There were injured people lying on blankets on almost every available space.

Just as I had escaped from questions, I now wanted to escape from seeing all this. I walked to the main door (if you could call it a door anymore - it looked more like firewood now) and stepped outside, enjoying the feeling of fresh air on my face. The people of Rohan had already buried their people that had fallen during the battle. I touched the mound gently and then walked until I stood on the other side of the huge rock in the middle of the field. Sitting and soaking in everything made me feel better.

I didn't hear Legolas until he was right behind me. I turned quickly and he smiled at me. He put one hand on my shoulder as we looked out together. Again Legolas caught me by surprise by catching one of my hands in his. He looked right at me and I felt like he was looking into my soul. Before I knew it, I felt his lips on mine gently, tentatively. The last thing I wanted to do was to stop him but I knew I should before he got the wrong idea. Pushing him off gently, I looked at him and then started to walk back to the Hornburg. What was happening to me? I barely recognized myself anymore.

And the thing was, I didn't know if that was good or bad.

(A/N: Okay, this chapter was basically pointless. It was to show relationships and emotions because my story can't be all like FIGHT FIGHT, KILL KILL! One of my friends did this in her story and I liked the idea: FLAME ME! Well, not really. But tell me what I'm doing wrong you guys. If I make a mistake in grammar or spelling, point it out! If I get a name wrong or people are OOC, tell me! Constructive criticism is good! This story is going to be long; eventually I might have to break it into another because I will be covering the last book in the series too. We're about half way through The Two Towers so we still have a long way to go! Next chapter: travelling to, and being in Isengard.)


	19. The Road to Isengard

This chapter is named straight from the book. Page 530 in The Two Towers. I DON'T OWN IT!

- - - Aragorn - - -

We had been travelling for some time. Grace was sleeping gently on my chest and Legolas and Gimli had ridden ahead with Gandalf and Théoden King. His men were scattered around us. Gandalf had decided that we would travel to Isengard. The travel had been long already and it was almost nightfall.

We set camp beside the Isen river. It had long ago dried up from Saruman's works. Grace woke as I handed her off the horse to Legolas. He held her gently and she stretched and opened her eyes.

"Hey, where are we?" she asked.

"We are near the Isen river, arwenamin," Legolas said, letting her go as she started to become fully conscious.

She patted him on the shoulder and wandered toward Arod's head. Petting him gently and making small cooing noises, Grace looked serene and untroubled by anything. Almost the opposite of when she had fist come into our midst. I could remember several days after we had arrived in Lothlórien I had found her crying bitterly in the middle of a clearing, all alone. Her eyes were haunted looking and she had looked miserable. Now she looked so much different, almost unrecognizable from the depressed, lost young girl I had stumbled upon that night.

She yawned and I could see she was weary still. A fire had been started to give us warmth and light until we decided to sleep. Grace wandered over to it and seated herself beside Éomer. He handed her a rough cup and she looked into it briefly before sipping, grimacing, and passing it back.

"She has changed much," Legolas said to both me and Gimli.

Gimli smiled at her. When Grace had first set out with us, he had thought she was odd and would betray the Fellowship. Although I had tried to assure him otherwise, I know he didn't succumb to her childish charm until after Boromir's death. I had told him about her attempted suicide and he had backed away for a brief period.

Legolas on the other hand, had been falling for her the whole time. I had long suspected it before Grace had confirmed it for me. He wasn't one to fall in love with any girl that walked past him. I think it was the mysteriousness of Grace that had first caught his attention. The fact she didn't open up to us right away and she hid something for the first while made him want to open her up and find out what hurt her. He wanted to heal her. And although I'm sure Grace didn't know it yet, I could see her opening and becoming more willing to be healed.

Grace had not been part of the Fellowship when we left Lothlórien. And although she hadn't been then, she was now.

- - - Grace - - -

I yawned and then realized how tired I actually was. There was no reason I should be tired. I had slept for a good portion of the trip on Aragorn but still I wanted to sleep. As soon as I removed myself from the presence of all the men of the Riddermark, I felt more at ease. I didn't like the way some of them watched me. As long as Aragorn, Gimli or Legolas were around, I knew none of them would try anything. I had felt safe with Éomer originally. But since we had left Helm's Deep, he had also been watching me in the way that scared me. Often I had caught Legolas watching me but it had never unnerved me the way it did when the other men did it. For one thing, Legolas' eyes didn't hold lust or some other greed. I trusted him. I had the feeling that, though the men of the Riddermark were kind, they wouldn't hesitate to take what they wanted if I was caught alone with no one there to stop them.

Shivering, I wandered over the Gimli. "Hello, lass. Cold night, is it not? You should sleep soon, we will be leaving early in the morn."

I smiled at him. He was such a sweet man. I bent a bit and hugged him. He patted my back gently before I stood up to leave. I found Aragorn brushing Arod down and Legolas had wandered away to commune with nature or something else just as elf-like. Telling Aragorn I was going to sleep, he nodded and handed me a blanket we had draped over the horse.

I took it and set it down on the ground. Wrapping my cloak tighter around me, I sat on the ground. I was about to lay when I saw a figure approaching me. Éomer. He came and sat near me. Unconsciously, I leaned slid a bit farther away from him.

"Grace," he said, nodding his head. I nodded in reply. I watched him scan my body with his eyes and I tried to suppress a shiver. "You are very brave, coming with your brother and these men on such a dangerous journey. Are you bound to any one of them?" I had to think for a second to understand him.

"Oh," I said. "No. I'm not 'bound' to anyone."

As soon as that was out of my mouth I cursed myself. I should have told him I was with someone! Then he might have backed off. Instead he leaned in a little closer to me. I was getting a bit unnerved and was about to open my mouth to call for Aragorn when I saw Legolas coming up behind Éomer. Breathing a sigh of relief, I relaxed. Éomer seemed to sense someone behind him and he turned quickly. The look in Legolas' eyes was enough to make him stand. Nodding his head, Éomer left.

"Legolas," I hissed up at him, more frightened than I would ever want to admit, "stay with me, please."

Of course, Legolas, being the amazingly perceptive elf he is, sat with me and touched my shoulder gently. He looked into my eyes for a second and I turned my eyes to the ground, not able to look at him any longer. "You are uneasy around them." It wasn't a question. I nodded and he said, "I will stay with you while you sleep."

I stretched out on the blanket and felt Legolas lie beside me. I turned so I was facing him. After closing my eyes for a while, I realized that sleep wasn't coming, I was too cold. I moved closer to Legolas and that seemed to be all the permission he needed to throw an arm around me and pull me in close. He was warmer than Aragorn and I automatically relaxed.

After being warm I had expected to fall asleep quickly but I didn't. Gimli and Aragorn joined us and I sat up. Legolas came up with me and all four of us sat there talking quietly. Then there was a cry from one of the men.

It was dark. And when I say dark, I don't mean, night-time dark. I mean DARK dark. It was like a black mist creeping around us. I grabbed Legolas' arm and he looped an arm around my waist. I heard Aragorn starting to unsheathe his sword and I reached for my blades.

"Stay where you are!" said Gandalf. "Draw no weapons! Wait! And it will pass you by!"

We waited for a long time. There were voices coming from the mist. I was so frightened. Legolas had an arm around me and Aragorn had a hand on my leg while Gimli clutched one of my hands. Without them there, the darkness would have been unbearable.

My grip on Gimli's hand relaxed and I started leaning into Legolas, almost asleep when a loud noise came again. I jumped about a foot in the air and Legolas tightened his grip on my waist. I put a hand on his to assure him I was okay. The noise came from the riverbed. It had been dry when we had arrived; Saruman had been using it for his own uses. But now water was rushing through as if it had been there all along.

- - - Gimli - - -

As the sun rose we departed from that cursed place. They were smart enough not to put Grace and me on the same horse, so again, I was riding with the elf. Grace almost fell off her horse on the way to Isengard and would have, if Aragorn hadn't have caught her.

Then I realized why she had almost fallen. She had got a glimpse of Isengard. The stories I had heard were of a beautiful place. This was nothing of the sorts. Ugly and mutilated it was. Trenches filled with water were everywhere. I heard a shriek from beside me when we stopped moving.

"PIPPIN!!!!"

(A/N: Okay, I have a lot to say about this chapter so please, bear with me. I didn't mean to make Éomer look slightly freaky in this chapter but it's how it turned out. There isn't really an excuse for it except he's a man, and he's been stuck with only men for who-knows-how-long… I hope that explains itself. And if you haven't read the books and don't want spoilers, don't continue reading! This has already gone past the second movie and I'm not going to wait for the third movie to come out. You have been forewarned: my story will differ from the movie; it's based on the books! Last but not least: REVIEW GUYS! I wanna have 200 reviews after this but I know that's _incredibly_ unlikely so I'll settle for 175. I know you guys can do it, you rock!!!)

¹ The Two Towers, page 539


	20. Old Scars, Fresh Blood

- - - Merry - - -

I heard someone scream Pippin's name (he was sleeping, he didn't hear it) and I looked up quickly. A company of men had just stopped in front of the gates of Isengard. But I had distinctly heard a feminine voice.

"MERRY!!!!" There it was again.

This time I recognized the voice but couldn't place it. I saw a cloaked figure hop down from one of the horses. It turned and pulled off the hood that was covering it's face. As soon as I saw the eyes, I knew it was Grace. She let out a shriek and ran toward me as fast as she could.

"Merry!" she cried as she scooped me off the ground in a hug. I laughed at her when she put me down and she ruffled my hair. I tried to smooth it with no avail.

Pippin stirred beside us and before he had time to wake up, Grace had lifted him off the ground in a hug too. He snapped awake and almost pushed himself away from Grace until he realized it was her.

I suddenly remembered my manners and sputtered off some stuff Treebeard had told us to say. "Welcome, my lords, to Isengard! We are the doorwardens. Meriadoc, son of Sardoc is my name; and my companion, who, alas! is overcome with weariness is Peregrin, son of Paladin, of the house of Took. Far in the North is our home. The Lord Saruman is within; but at the moment he is closeted with one Wormtongue, or doubtless he would be here to welcome such honourable guests." ¹

Gandalf asked us if it had been Saruman that had sent us to watch the gates. It had been Treebeard and I told him so. Suddenly, our conversation was cut short by a gruff voice. Gimli started ranting on about searching for days, fighting a war, and then finding us relaxing with pipes and wine.

"You speak for me, Gimli," laughed Legolas. "Though I would sooner learn how they came by the wine." ¹¹

We were questioned for what seemed like hours until Gandalf led away the company of men and Grace, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Pippin, and I got to sit down and actually talk. Grace fell asleep since it was still early morning. Aragorn picked her up and moved her far enough away we would not disturb her with talking. With Grace still in sight, I learned what we had missed.

- - - Grace - - -

It was so dark. I moved and heard a rustling of clothes. Neither of those things startled me until I remembered it wasn't night time. I sat up quickly and only succeeded in banging my head on something hard.

I blinked the stars away and lay still, trying to figure out where I was. I could feel something soft underneath me and there was a pillow under my head. From what I could tell, I was wearing a dress, which confused me since I had been wearing a long shirt-type thing over tight pants for the whole journey. I reached up and felt something over me. It surrounded me. Then I realized it. I was in a box. A huge box. And not just any box.

A coffin.

I started to pound on the roof of the coffin but stopped when pain shot through my wrists. I touched them and felt marks. Cuts. Not scars. But my cuts had healed long ago. How were they back and why was I buried six feet under the ground? Then I lost it. Not caring how much it hurt or _why_ it hurt, I pounded on the lid as hard as I could. I started to scream and yell, scratching, clawing, and pounding at the satin and wood surrounding me.

Finally, I let out a scream that you could have heard three cities away and sat up. This time I didn't hit wood. I looked around. It was light out (well, semi-light; Mount Doom had been giving off so many clouds lately) and Legolas was sitting in front of me. I could see the other members of the Fellowship looking at me from a ways away and I stared back at them.

Legolas reached out and brushed my face. His fingers came away wet. Then, without even thinking about it, I leaned forward and kissed him.

- - - Legolas - - -

The moment I felt Grace's lips on mine, I knew it wasn't a kiss of affection. It wasn't even a kiss out of curiosity. She was merely seeking comfort and had found no better way to get it. Although I was sorely tempted, I would not take advantage of her like that. I gently pushed her away from me though my head was screaming for me to never let her go. She looked at me, her eyes more frightened than I had ever seen them, and her hands holding the front of my shirt.

"Utúvienye arwenamin.¹¹¹ Do not worry," I whispered to her.

A puzzled look crossed her face. Firstly I thought it was because she had not understood my words (which she didn't) but then she looked down at her arms, still gripping my shirt. Grace's eyes widened as she and I both saw her wrists were covered in blood. She took one of her hands and wiped at it. It was oozing from cuts on her wrists. Cuts that were in the exact place of her scars.

"What?" she asked in disbelief. "H - how?"

"Grace?"

Aragorn had come up behind us. The hobbits, unable to contain their curiosity, had followed. And Gimli had come also, not wanting to sit alone. When we had heard Grace's scream, a scream of absolute fear, I had been the first to her and I strongly suspected that Aragorn had told them not to follow.

"What happened?" Pippin asked, his eyes wide with horror.

"I don't… I don't know." Grace shook her head slightly. "I was dreaming. I was… dead. Buried. I had my cuts." She waved her arms as she spoke, and blood still flowed freely down her arms and onto the ground. "I screamed and tried to escape -" I noticed her knuckles were scraped and bruised "- but I couldn't. Then I woke up."

Gimli put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. "I don't want to die. I don't want to be alone," she said in a small voice.

"Amin khiluva vys a' gurtha ar' thar." ¹¹¹¹

Aragorn looked at me when I made that statement. He was the only one who understood it and I could tell he was surprised I had said it. It was almost a relief Grace could not understand my words, for she would most likely think them either a joke or think I was utterly crazy.

Pippin stepped forward and wrapped his small arms around her then and she looked happy to be comforted. After releasing Pippin, Aragorn took her hand gently and pulled her to her feet. Grace wavered slightly but caught her balance quickly. She followed him to where he had left all his healing supplies. He pulled out a roll of bandages and some athelas. As he tended to Grace's cuts, Gimli turned to me.

"What happened to the lass?"

"I don't know Gimli. I don't even think she does," I said.

A look of pain flashed across Grace's face as Aragorn wrapped her wrists tightly. He put a hand on her shoulder when he was finished and she looked at him then threw her arms around his neck. Gently brushing her hair off her face, he kissed her cheek and hugged her back.

Grace had affected us all. I noticed it in the way any of us watched her. She had become too important to the Fellowship. As important as any of us that had originally set out from Rivendell. She looked down at her bandaged arms, that were already blood soaked, and I knew then. I knew that I would heal her.

(A/N: Hehehe, hi. I know, I know, I didn't get 175 Reviews. But don't you think 173 is close enough? It is for me, because I WANNA POST THIS CHAPTER! Anywho, I didn't update yesterday cuz it was my birfday and I was celebrating and other stuff like that. I GOT THE TWO TOWERS ON DVD, I'm so happy! I just had to tell you all. I'm going to go watch it right now. That's right. Now. Okay. Well, Review while I'm watching the movie and we'll all be happy cuz I like Reviews and I'll update for you! And I must answer a question posed in a Review.

To christen: the orc in chapter five that Grace tackled was always there. She distracted it when it was focussing on Boromir and then started freaking out because no one was there to help. That's where Aragorn comes in. He came and fought the Uruk-hai and killed it, as seen in the movie, The Fellowship of the Ring. I hope no one else had trouble understanding that. Tell me if you did!)

¹ The Two Towers, page 543

¹¹ The Two Towers, page 544

¹¹¹ Elvish! Translation: _I have come my lady_

¹¹¹¹ MORE ELVISH! YAY! Translation: _I will follow you to death and beyond_


	21. Palantír

(A/N: Great guessing Lilena.)

- - - Pippin - - -

"Ah well, whatever evil was afoot is over now, I hope; or else is beyond our reach at the present," said Aragorn. "Yet I think I shall mention it to Gandalf, small matter though it may seem among his great affairs." ¹

"I wonder what he is doing," said Merry. "The afternoon is getting on. Let us go and look round! You can enter Isengard now at any rate, Strider, if you want to. But it is not a very cheerful sight." ¹¹

With that said, we all stood and entered Isengard. Grace had said little since she had woken and now she played absent-mindedly with the coverings on her arms. I remembered the first time I had met her. I had helped her remove the bandages. When I had seen the original cuts, I knew it wasn't what everyone thought. I had never found out what had happened, but she wasn't attacked, I could tell that by looking at her.

As we walked, I gently reached up and touched her hand. Her fingers clasped over mine and she smiled at me. I can't say it was a real smile; not one that you give when you have no troubles, but at least it was a smile. I grinned back at her and we walked the whole way like that. No one made a comment on it, it just seemed like something natural. We were friends and when a friend is troubled, you comfort them. Over the journey, Grace had gotten close with all of us in a different way, she had helped us, and we had helped her. The Fellowship had never died; it had been reformed.

Gandalf asked Aragorn to come with him to see Saruman but Gimli protested, saying we all wanted to see him as well. Wormtongue appeared in a window and King Théoden made a disgusted noise in his throat. As Gandalf ordered, Wormtongue went to fetch Saruman.

Then we heard another voice. It wasn't like anything I had heard before. A low, enchanting voice, it spoke words that I didn't understand. Grace's forehead was wrinkled in concentration. Finally, he spoke common tongue and we looked up when we heard him. Saruman was standing right above us, how had none of us heard him coming?

The words coming from Saruman made the Riders of Rohan stir. Gandalf had never spoken like that to their king. Why did Saruman seem so much better, why was Gandalf driving them to ruin? Then Gimli broke the spell.

"The words of this wizard stand on their heads," he growled, gripping the handle of his axe. "In the language of Orthanc help means ruin, and saving means slaying, that is plain. But we do not come here to beg." ¹¹¹

Again Saruman spoke, and again, the king seemed under his enchantment. This time it was Éomer that broke it. He said they had fought all the Uruk-hai without defeat, only to come here and be beaten by a wizard.

- - - Éomer - - -

Saruman disgusted me. He was trying to snare us in another trap. And try as I might, my uncle would not listen to me. He was being taken in by the serpent that was Saruman. The persuasive voice was turned to Gandalf then and though the words were still charming, they were now directed to a higher power; not for us.

Then Gandalf started to laugh. He was laughing at Saruman. Mocking him almost. And though he tried, he could not get Saruman come down to talk. "The treacherous are ever distrustful," as Gandalf said. As Saruman turned to leave, back into the tower, Gandalf cried out for him to come back. It seemed that against his will, Saruman was dragged back.

"Saruman, your staff is broken," he said, and there was a loud crack.

The wizard fell back in shock, looking at his broken staff. A round, heavy object came flying from the room behind him. Barely missing Gandalf, it hit the ground and rolled. Pippin chased it and picked it up. When he turned back, carrying it, Gandalf stooped quickly and took it from him.

We left that night. I do not think I was the only one relieved to leave. We rode for several hours slowly and peacefully. The next day we would have to ride much harder. Quickly a camp was set up and some slept while others ate and talked. Soon all slept except two left on guard.

- - - Grace - - -

I couldn't believe it! How did I get stuck on guard duty? Luckily whoever made me do it, had the sense to put me with Legolas instead of one of the Riders. There was a small fire going near us and although I was wrapped in a cloak as well, I was still cold. Damn Legolas and his built in elven heating system.

We hadn't talked much, mostly we sat thinking or looking around for anything to be wary about. I was so tired but I didn't want to sleep. Not after what had happened last time. Whatever it was. Had I actually been back to my home, or was it just a dream? I knew that Gandalf had been informed of it but he hadn't yet confronted me or, as far as I knew, come up with anything.

"You are not angered with me anymore, are you?" Legolas asked me suddenly.

I jumped about a foot in the air and then turned to look at him, confused. "What?"

"You were angry. When I told you I loved you."

A blush forced its way up onto my cheeks and I fought to get rid of it. How could he talk so casually about his feelings? I don't think I had ever told anyone I loved them. Well, maybe my parents when I was young. But I realized I wasn't mad at Legolas. He had never done anything wrong, so technically, I never had had a reason to be mad with him. Yet I had been.

"No, I'm not mad, Legolas," I said quietly.

There was another silence. This time I could sense Legolas staring at me. I started to day-dream (night-dream?) for a while when Legolas spoke again.

I jumped for the second time and cried, "Don't do that!"

"I am sorry, Grace."

"It's okay," I said, clutching my chest and breathing hard. "Now what did you say?"

"May I heal you?"

"May you _what_?"

"May I heal you?" he repeated again.

"Heal me? I'm not sick, Legolas! Why would I need to be healed?"

"Not your body, arwenamin. Your spirit. Your -" he reached out with two fingers and touched me just below the scar I had on my collarbone from Helm's Deep, "your heart."

I was so taken aback that I sat there for what seemed like an hour, probably looking incredibly stupid, gawking at him.

"You want to heal my heart?" I asked, incredulous. Legolas nodded. "How?"

"You shall see if you accept my offer."

Then, almost breathless, though I didn't know why, I said, "Yes. Heal me Legolas."

A beautiful smile graced his face then and he bent and kissed the spot when his fingers had been only moments before. I froze, not knowing what to do. Then Legolas sat up again, kissed my lips quickly yet tenderly, and went on acting as though nothing had ever happened. He had moved during our conversation, until he was right next to me. Then without really noticing it, I slept, head on Legolas' shoulder.

I woke again when there was a loud yell. I sat straight up and turned, looking for the source of the cry. Gandalf was lecturing Pippin on something he had done. As I listened, I heard him admit to taking the stone ball Wormtongue had thrown from Saruman's tower and looking into it. It seemed an innocent enough thing for someone to do, but Gandalf was upset and forced him to speak about what he had seen.

I stood and came to Pippin's side. Merry was already there, a hand on Pippin's shoulder. He turned back and looked and Merry and me. I hugged him briefly before I stood. Aragorn and Gandalf were absorbed in a serious conversation. A huge shadow came sweeping over us and some of the men cried out. Gandalf ran to Shadowfax and Aragorn set Pippin up in front of him. I caught his glance for a short time before they rode off, faster than I've ever seen a horse move.

We packed our stuff quickly. Instead of following Gandalf, we would be going to Helm's Deep again. It was a dark night, and this time I rode in front of Legolas instead of Aragorn. Gimli was seated with one of the Riders of Rohan, and Merry was with Aragorn.

Aragorn said he would also need to get to Minas Tirith, but the way would be dark and dangerous. Without thought, Gimli, Legolas and I agreed to follow him, no matter the danger or cost. As we rode, Legolas tightened his grip on me, I held his hand in mine and I could feel him running his fingers down the back of my hand. I was going to be healed.

And at that moment, there was nothing I wanted more.

(A/N: AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! The end of The Two Towers! This is where the plot thickens. A lot of this chapter was taken from the book, but not directly. Half sentences, ideas phrased mostly in my own words, things like that. So, just in case: **I don't own any of it**! And as I say every chapter, REVIEEEEEW!)

¹ The Two Towers, page 560

¹¹ The Two Towers, page 561

¹¹¹ The Two Towers, page 565


	22. Elroarhirm and the Dúnedain

(A/N: Healing, as defined to me in a Review after chapter twenty, is: _a healing of both body, heart and fey [spirit] where the two participants allow each other into their heart and soul. Often used for grieving or heart broken elves. Sometimes this ritual is used before consummating a bond_. Thanks Lilena! Song for this chapter: **Wind's Nocturne**.)

- - - Grace - - -

Was it possible? _Ah, NO_! I told myself, _I **AM NOT** falling for Legolas_! But then I turned my head and looked behind me and felt his hand caressing the back of mine, and suddenly, I wasn't so sure. How did this happen? No, wait. It wasn't happening. Everything was normal. Okay, take a deep breath. No, DON'T! When I did that I could smell him! Now that I'd screwed that up, I tried not to think about what he smelled like.

He didn't smell at all like Aragorn (Eeeew!) or Gimli. Legolas smelled like outdoors, which didn't surprise me, we'd been outside all day, everyday for a long time. But then why didn't the rest of us smell like that?

Suddenly pain in my hand make me look down. I had been clenching my hands so tightly I had actually broken the skin in one spot with my nails. Bringing my hand up, I sucked on the cut, trying to stop the bleeding. Legolas didn't say anything but I know he noticed me. My blood tasted like a penny. Every time I would taste blood after that, it reminded me of the night I battled emotions and the inevitable.

Suddenly I felt Legolas tense behind me. He heard something. After listening for a second, I heard it too. Horses. But it didn't sound like the number of horses we had. There was more. We stopped the company and I heard Éomer call out: "Halt! Halt! Who rides in Rohan?" ¹

A mysterious voice called out from the dark. There was something familiar about it. I had never heard it before, yet it sounded like someone I knew. After contemplating this for a long while, I realized who it sounded like. Aragorn!

I looked over to my right to make sure Aragorn was still there and he hadn't ran off and was just coming back to report to us. Yes, he was there, with Merry sitting in front of him, looking exceptionally rugged and manly in his dirty state. Mmm, smelled manly too, if that's the same as unwashed. As I watched, his face changed from puzzled to happy. He handed the reins to Merry and jumped off the horse, calling to the hooded stranger named Halbarad.

They talked for a while about nothing interesting to me. Legolas took it all in I know, so I could ask him later if I really wanted to know what they were saying. Then they did say something that interested me.

"I have thirty with me," said Halbarad. "That is all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste; but the brethren Elladan and Elrohir have ridden with us, desiring to go to war. We rode as swiftly as we might when your summons came." ¹

Wait, wait, wait, WAIT! Back up a second. War? What's this? Why wasn't I told about this? And hadn't we just finished a war? Does HELM'S DEEP ring a bell for any of you guys? Obviously not, since you decided we needed to fight some more. Yes, let's go into yet another life-threatening battle and hope we come out with all our limbs, let alone our lives. Now if that's not fun, I don't know what is!

We started to ride again and this time I was moved to sit in front of an elf with dark hair I didn't know. At least they were smart enough to know I'd be more comfortable with an elf (their intentions were always good, I found) than a man. Gimli went and sat with Legolas and all of us, including Aragorn and Merry, rode with the group he called the Dúnadain. Riding next to me and Elf Boy was another Elf Boy! This one looked exactly like the one I was riding with and their names were even the same! Okay, so I'm exaggerating, but they were close. Aragorn started talking with the one that had the more complicated name, thankfully leaving me to talk to the one who's name I could pronounce. And he tried to teach me to say his brother's name too.

"Ell - Roh - Here," Elladan said.

"Ell - Roh - Here," I repeated.

"Good!" he praised me in his slightly accented english.

"Thanks!" I said. "What are Aragorn and Elroarhirm saying? Paths of the Dead? What's that?"

Elladan made a face when I said his brother's name, but I guess he decided not to comment. "The Paths of the Dead are a place rarely gone to. Long have humans and elves alike been afraid to walk them. But, with Estel to lead us, we shall do it together."

After processing these complicated sentences in my head, I voiced my opinion. "Okay, what I don't get, is, why, if everyone's so afraid of the monsters or whatever that lives there, are we going through it? Does Aragorn have a death wish, because I know I don't!"

Laughing lightly at me, which I didn't like, Elladan said, "There are worse things than monsters to fear there, pen neth.¹¹ What walks there, is the dead itself."

"WHAT?!" I yelled.

- - - Elladan - - -

I flinched at the shout from the girl in front of me.

"Quiet, young one," I told her.

"Sorry," she muttered, brushing her dark hair from her face. She shook her head lightly.

"Legolas," I called in elvish. "What is her name?"

"Grace," he said back to me and she looked up hearing her name.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Nothing, little one. It is not of importance."

Grace brushed her hair lightly again and it quickly fell back into her face. I pressed the reins into her hands, which were partially immobile because of strips of cloth wrapping her wrists which I had not asked about yet, and steadied myself on the horse. When Grace felt my fingers touch my hair, she stopped all movement, most likely wondering what I was doing. Quickly, I did the simplest braid I could think of, to keep her hair from her eyes. Then I took the reins back from her hands.

She turned her body slightly to me, and for the first time looked me in the eye. Her eyebrows were pulled into a frown and her straight mouth looked troubled.

"Why did you do that?" she questioned.

"I thought it would keep your hair from your face," I said simply. I did not mention to her that braiding rarely occurred between anyone who wasn't kin or one a bond was shared with. Nor did I say I had never seen or heard of a human with their hair braided, although, for the first human I had seen with their tresses done like that, I have to say, it did suit her.

"Um, thank you, I guess."

She seemed just as unnerved by the unusualness of that as I did, for I had only braided the hair of my own family. I saw the young hobbit gaping at me senselessly, while both Elrohir and Aragorn shot me uneasy glances from the corner of their eyes. After a look at Legolas, I knew I should have let Grace's hair be. His eyes burned into mine. I knew he could read them and see I felt nothing for the young human as I could see he did. That seemed to calm him slightly though he did not speak for the rest of the night until we took rest.

Grace and Meriadoc, the hobbit, slept almost immediately and deeply for the hours we were resting and taking council. When they were woken by Legolas, we again mounted horses and started the last leg of the journey to the Hornburg. After a hasty ride, we arrived and were greeted by the stares of all the citizens of Edoras.

(A/N: I know it was an abrupt end to the chapter but that's really the best place I could think of to cut it off. And as of now, I have nothing else to say. Review!)

¹ Return of the King, page 757

¹¹ Elvish that, by the way, probably isn't correct! Translation: _little one_


	23. Kissing You

- - - Legolas - - -

What I felt could not be explained. I understood, like the others, that Grace would ride with Elladan. Aragorn had considered seating her with Éomer but after a look from both her and I, had decided not to. Elves, he felt, she would be comfortable with, if he actions with me were any indication. I also was eased when I found she would ride with Elladan. Then I saw his hands in her hair and did not know what to think. It is true that the elves of Mirkwood tend to only braid the hair of select few and I knew it was so with the Rivendell elves also. Then why had he touched her hair?

Why had he asked her name? Could he read me, did he know I did not wish to tell him? I watched as he braided her hair. The only one to have done it before was me. It was a simple thing, just to keep her hair from her eyes. Then why was I so disturbed by it?

I watched Elladan let his feelings show in his eyes and on his face so I would read them. I relaxed slightly when I found there were no feelings or dishonest intentions harboured within him. We rested and then went on to Helm's Deep. I rarely spoke, trying to keep jealousy that I had rarely, but never this strong, felt under the surface. At one point Aragorn came to me, put his hand on my shoulder for a moment and left, nothing said. Estel understood me far better than anyone ever could, even myself.

"Where is Aragorn?" Merry asked me, breaking me out of thought.

Both Grace and Gimli were with us and the young girl stood with a hand on the dwarf's shoulder. I blinked, trying to clear my head. Gimli, though a dwarf, was my friend. Why was I wishing I was the one she was touching instead of him? She was driving me mad without even knowing it. I would die because a young human decided to touch a dwarf instead of me.

I told Merry that Estel had gone to the high chamber of Helm's Deep. He had not slept nor rested with us. Halbarad had gone with him and I could see something dark about him. Worry settled on me. The conversation progressed onto the Dúnedain, kinsmen of Aragorn. I heard little of it, for my gaze had settled on Grace. She had been studying me seriously. Almost unconsciously, she reached up and played with the small braid in her hair. A burst of jealousy, stronger than I have ever felt, hit me and I clenched my hands for a moment.

**_Pride can stand a thousand trials   
The strong will never fall   
But watching stars without you my soul cried   
Heaving heart is full of pain_**

She had caught my eye and just stared at me for a moment. There was something different about her as she grinned at me. One of her cheeky grins, one that showed how alive she was and had been, even underneath all the sorrow that had brought her into our lives.

My heart shuddered then. Not because of the smile, because of her eyes. What did they hold? I could not read it and it frustrated me more than anything. Usually Grace's emotions were one of the easiest to read out of the whole Fellowship, and it confused me that she had suddenly learned to hide them.

Then she left to walk by herself. Her mannerism told me that she wanted to be alone. I watched her leave the front gate and walk out to where the Uruk-hai had been only days before. She laid on the grass and looked at the sky. That was all I saw of her before we started to walk and she was blocked from my view by the walls.

- - - Grace - - -

I just layed there. I don't even know how long I was there. I saw people going to eat a meal; it must have been midday. Before I knew it, horses were coming from the fortress, all bearing a rider. The king and his men. Merry was riding with them but I couldn't see Legolas, Gimli or Aragorn anywhere. I waved slightly at Merry and he gave me a small, sad smile before I turned back to Helm's Deep and entered it again.

I entered the main hall where people were eating. They seemed in the middle of a conversation.

"A struggle somewhat grimmer for my part than the battle of the Horburg," answered Aragorn (to what question, I don't know). "I have looked in the Stone of Orthanc, my friends." ¹

"You have looked in that accursed stone of wizardry!" exclaimed Gimli with fear and astonishment on his face. "Did you said aught to - _him_? Even Gandalf feared that encounter." ¹

To say Aragorn spoke sharply would be wrong. He was stern when he told Gimli that he forgot whom he was speaking to. He said he had the right to look into the stone, and the strength. I was slightly confused by this time. Who had he spoken to? Finally it dawned on me. Aragorn had spoken to Sauron. I didn't understand too much about him. They had tried to fill me in on this Ever-watchful-eye thing that Sauron was, but I only retained some of it.

There was a lot more talk about many different things. Mostly the Paths of the Dead. I remembered what Elladan had said about it and shuddered. Finally they deemed it time to go. Halbarad blew a horn after we had mounted horses, and we rode off quickly. This time I rode behind Aragorn and clung tightly to him. He was changed slightly. Sterner, more tired than I had ever seen him. I squeezed him gently, trying to tell him without words that I was there to support him.

We travelled for the rest of the day. Our sleep that night was short and uneasy. At dawn we started to travel again and we came to Edoras. We stopped only for a portion of an hour to rest the horses and eat a small meal. Quickly, we left again and finally stopped at a place called Dunharrow as the sun started to sink behind the horizon.

Éowyn met us and only seconds after I had dismounted Aragorn's horse, she had wrapped me in a hug. I could see the awe in her eyes for Elladan and Elrohir (yes, I did finally get the pronunciation of his name right!) and Halbarad and his company. Then her eyes rested on Aragorn and I watched them soften until she was almost staring in pure adoration.

When she suggested she would get some food and beds ready for us, Aragorn cut her off. He said that we would be leaving as soon as it was light. That left us like ten minutes to sleep. Okay, over exaggeration, but it didn't leave us a lot of time to sleep.

I tried to sleep, I really did. But I couldn't. I got up and paced for a short time before sitting in the grass and looking at the stars.

****

But watching stars without you my soul cried   
Heaving heart is full of pain

I didn't hear Legolas until he was right beside me. My heart almost burst when I looked up at him. I saw his beauty and wondered again how anything, even something that was half as magnificent as he was, could ever love me. He obviously wasn't wondering the same thing, for he reached out a hand and pulled me to my feet.

**_Oh, oh, the aching   
'Cause, I'm kissing you, oh   
I'm kissing you, oh   
Touch me deep, pure, and true g_****_ift to me forever_**

And that's when I knew. I had suspected it for a while already. When his hand touched mine I just stopped questioning it. It wasn't _if_. It just was. I turned to him then, I could see a small amount of confusion in his eyes when he looked at me. He was going to wonder if I was out of my mind.

****

'Cause, I'm kissing you   
Oh, I'm kissing you, oh

I don't even remember moving. All I remember is that one moment I had been looking at him, and the next... Well, the next I had kissed him. And it wasn't like before. Not like the times he had kissed me or I had kissed him out of fear. This was me, all of me, put into one kiss, and giving myself to him.

It was when I felt one of his hands caressing my cheek and the other on my back that I knew for sure that this wasn't a dream. For the last couple of days I had dreamt it. Now I was living it.

****

Where are you now?   
Where are you now?   
'Cause, I'm kissing you   
I'm kissing you, oh

(A/N: Well, there ya have it. I'm home sick so I typed this up. Okay, so I'm not really sick. Just a little bit. I've been like,' Yeah, I'll go to bed in five minutes,' for like the last hour. I knew you would all wants this as soon as possible so I didn't. You guys Review and I write, that's how it goes! The writing in **_bold italics _**are lyrics from the song_ Kissing You_ by _Des'ree_. It was on the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack and I love it! I hope you guys liked the chapter, I was looking forward to it for a long time! You should go Review it just to tell me how amazing I am. Just kidding! Until next time mes amis!)

¹ Return of the King, page 763


	24. Protector

_**Have you ever seen such a beautiful night?  
I could almost kiss the stars for shining so bright  
When I see you smiling, I go, 'oh, oh, oh'  
I would never want to miss this  
'Cause in my heart, I know what this is  
  
This is what dreams are made of  
This is what dreams are made of  
I've got somewhere I belong  
I've got somebody to love  
This is what dreams are made of**_ ¹

- - - Legolas - - -

I reached out a hand and pulled Grace to her feet. She had been the in the most odd mood for several days. When she stood, she just stared at me. A bit of my confusion must have been obvious to her, for she smiled gently up at me.

I was confused. Yet, as soon as she started moving, I knew what was going to happen. Again I had the pleasure of kissing Grace. It was perfect. Unexpected, yes. But perfect nonetheless. By no means was it the best kiss I had experienced throughout all my life. The fact that it wasn't just a kiss, it was almost an offering, made it ideal. I realized that Grace wasn't really offering me her body; she was offering me her soul. I gladly accepted it. There was no need for me to do the same; she had had my soul, my heart for many days.

After one kiss, Grace backed off a bit. I knew I should not press for anything more from her. I held her hand and I brought it up and kissed the back lightly. She smiled lightly at me. My heart melted with that one smile as I brought her in closer to me again.

She leaned her head onto me and wavered slightly with exhaustion. We would have to leave early, we both knew that. So gently I lowered her until she lay on the ground. She opened one eye to look at and me and smiled. I leaned down to kiss her gently once before lying beside her.

Her body moulded to mine perfectly, and before long I could hear her steady breathing. I closed my eyes and just revelled in the fact that she was there with me. I sang quietly in her ear. Songs about love and the sea. Us and our future.

- - - Aragorn - - -

I have to say I was surprised. One, how often does Legolas sleep? And two, him and Grace were, well, touching. She had been known to hug us, kiss us, and sleep beside us. Being the only woman in the Fellowship, she naturally had to interact with men. But to sleep with her face buried in one of our chests while our arms were wrapped around her? That was the first time I had seen it happen. Legolas was sleeping beside her and both of his arms were grasping Grace and holding her to his side.

I didn't want to wake either of them. But Legolas was not asleep, as I had thought. I had forgotten elves sleep with their eyes open at all times. Legolas had had his eyes closed and it should have told me immediately that he was awake.

When his eyes opened suddenly he was looking at me. I smiled at him and said, "Get her up Legolas," in elvish. He nodded at me with a small smile and then looked down into Grace's face. His eyes softened when he looked at her. Watching them for a moment made me long for my Evenstar even more than I had before. There was no guarantee that I would see her again. Her father might yet convince her to go to the Undying Lands.

I shook my head, clearing it. The sun had not yet risen. Nevertheless we were all awake. We would leave soon. Momentarily, Grace joined me standing. She stifled a yawn with her hand. One of the bandages on it unravelled slightly and I reached out to catch it between my fingers. Giving it a gentle tug, I unwrapped it. It pleased me to see that the cuts had scabbed over and she was no longer in any danger of losing blood.

"Alleluia for no bandaids!" she cried and threw the other one off, probably a little too roughly for how fragile the just closed cuts were.

I grinned at her (though what she said had confused me) and she smiled back at me. Her eyes sparkled. I had known before I had seen them together sleeping. I think I had known before both Legolas and Grace had. Legolas loved Grace. And she loved him back. It almost gave me hope. Now I knew I was not alone. Grace was human and Legolas was elven. It made me and Arwen's chances seem that much better. We were no longer alone.

"So, where do we go today, oh leader?" Grace asked me.

"The Paths of the Dead."

A hiss was emitted from Grace. For a moment it sounded like a wild animal backed into a corner. I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure what had caused her to make the sound. What did she know of the Paths of the Dead?

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Hmm... It _couldn't _be that we're gonna go for a walk in a dark hole with a whole bunch of DEAD guys, could it?"

I grinned half-heartedly at her. "It is what needs to be done."

"Oh, shove it Aragorn," she replied and walked off, leaving me quite confused.

"Shove... what?"

- - - Grace - - -

I was angry at Aragorn. I don't even know why, really. I mean, was it his fault we had to go through there? Nope. But something about the Path of the Dead unnerved me. I guess, deep down, I thought that maybe, maybe I should be there too. I shook my head to clear it. While I did that I walked right into someone.

Stumbling back slightly, two hands gripped my arms gently yet firmly. I looked up into dark eyes.

"Oh, hi Éomer."

"Hello, frail one."

Yes, that's the way to make me like you Éomer. Call me frail. I had the urge right then to whip out one of my knives and shove it in his face. Yeah, that's right. Who's frail now asshole? He probably could see something threatening in my face because he started speaking in a more gentle tone. His hands were still on my arms and I looked down at them.

"Who do you have to protect you Grace? All alone out here with men and no fighting background. You need someone to watch over you." He slowly came closer to me. I tried to open my mouth and tell him my "brother" would protect me. Before I could say anything, one of his hands had found its way to my hair and caressed it gently.

And it felt so wrong.

When Legolas stroked my hair, I wanted to melt into a pool and let him do it forever. With Éomer I just tensed up and prayed for him to stop quickly. It was like he felt we had some intimacy.

"Let me protect you," he whispered to me hoarsely. He had come closer still and I could feel the warmth radiating off his body.

I didn't move. I just stood there with my face tilted downwards. He titled it upwards to look at him. He was even closer than I had originally thought. He was close enough to kiss me. And I knew he was going to. He brought my face up a little bit. I still didn't move. I couldn't.

Éomer's lips were about to brush against mine when a voice sounded from behind me.

"She does not need you to protect her, Son of Éomund."

Legolas stood there, his eyes flashing. Behind him stood Aragorn and Gimli. Aragorn had a hand on Legolas' shoulder, trying to calm him. With the sun starting to rise behind them, I had never seen them look more majestic.

Stepping back, Éomer's face changed. He went from looking at me intensely to looking at the Fellowship with something that looked almost hateful. I drew in a shaky breath. Gimli had stepped forward and he put a hand on my arm. Éomer looked into the faces of my friends, glanced at me and then turned and left.

Legolas had rushed forwards quickly and he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around so quickly it took me a second to focus. One of his hands cupped my face and the other ran through my hair. This, this is what I was missing when Éomer had done the same. Not only the sense of happiness but also safety.

"He did not harm you?" Legolas asked me, looking concerned.

I shook my head and Legolas' grip on me became a little less possessive. Trying to figure out why I didn't like that so much I said, "He was going to kiss me."

My plan clearly worked because almost immediately, I had been snatched up in his arms again. Smiling to myself I looked over his shoulder to see Aragorn watching this. I grinned at him but he didn't return the gesture. Finally I was released from the clutches of Legolas and he looked into my eyes.

"You are well?"

"I'm fine," I said.

He kissed my forehead before letting me go.

"Next time he tries that, lass," came a voice from near my elbow. I looked down and saw Gimli running his thumb along his axe, "you come to us. I knew it on the day we met him that man was not to be trusted."

I patted the head of my little dwarf friend. I was tempted to say, "Good Gimli," like you would to a pet but I didn't because I suspected it would offend him.

"Should we walk, melamin¹¹?" Legolas questioned.

"Just a minute. I want to talk with Aragorn quickly."

With a nod, Legolas escorted Gimli away, knowing rightly that I would be having a private conversation with Aragorn.

"Okay, what's wrong?" I asked.

With a sigh, Aragorn said, "Nothing pen neth¹¹¹, I am just weary."

"And you're also a bad liar," I commented, putting a hand on his arm.

"I - I do not want anything bad to befall you. You cannot accompany us on the Paths of the Dead." Aragorn hung his proud head and rubbed one of his temples.

"WHAT!? You're going to send me off with _them_? Yes, that's it, send me with the psycho man that wants to rape me!" I yelled, turning around and taking a few steps away from him so he wouldn't get a blow to the head.

"You mean Éomer."

"No, I mean Legolas," I shot back sarcastically. "Of course I mean Éomer! That's twice he's tried to - tried to - I don't know what he's trying to do but I don't like it!"

"Twice?"

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "On the way to Isengard, he - he tried, I don't know, _something_. I don't like how he looks at me Aragorn."

"Then you shall come with us," he said, changing his mind so quickly I was amazed. "Why didn't you tell me of this?" He had come up behind me and was now speaking into my ear.

"Legolas knew. He scared him off last time too." I paused. "I should go, Legolas wants to walk for a couple minutes before we leave."

"Yes," said Aragorn. "Your horse is packed, I will call when we leave, it won't be long."

I was about to walk away from him when his hand on my shoulder made me turn. Aragorn grabbed at my waist and for a moment I thought he was trying to pull an Éomer. As soon as I realized what he was really doing, I kicked myself. He had grabbed my belt to make sure my knives were there. And along side them he had slipped a small dagger.

"Just in case," he said as I left.

(A/N: Another chapter done! Which means we're one closer to the end... This saddens me. Sorry for a long delay, I just kinda lost motivation there for a month. The beginning was requested. Someone wanted a continuation of the last chapter though I wasn't planning on it. But you guys deserve it. Any other requests? I have one: You guys should go read a One Shot I wrote a while ago; not my best work but it doesn't matter. Thanks for Reviewing guys, keep it up!)

¹ _What Dreams Are Made Of_, The Lizzie McGuire Movie Soundtrack

¹¹ Elvish. Translation: _my love_

¹¹¹ Elvish used in a previous chapter. Just in case you forgot! Translation: _little one_


	25. The Paths of the Dead Part I

- - - Aragorn - - -

I had called Grace and Legolas to mount. We were all ready and about to leave when the lady Éowyn approached our horses dressed in men's clothes. She drank from a cup and passed it to me.

"Aragorn, wilt thou go?"

"I will," I said.

"Then wilt thou not let me ride with this company, as I have asked?"

"No, you cannot," I replied. ¹

Her eyes looked so stricken. I don't think I will ever forget the look. I sighed as she walked away. Moments later, I was joined by Legolas, Grace and Gimli. Grace had watched Éowyn leave and now looked at me. When she hopped up onto the horse with me behind her, she squeezed my hand tightly.

"It needed to be done," she whispered. "She can't come with us, it is not her place."

"I know. It is why I sent her away."

There was silence between us all as we rode between two great cliffs. The horses were uneasy. I could see Halbarad scanning the area. With Grace in front of me I was unable to do so also, so I studied our company.

The brothers Elladan and Elrohir had given me the sword of Anduril. Forged from the pieces of the broken sword. I felt it at my side and a burst of emotion ran through me. I felt hope once more. It did not matter we were only six thousand or that Mordor's army was unending; we would conquer them.

When we reached a small door, we dismounted. Some of the Dúnedain would be taking the horses through behind us; we would need to be at the front and aware at all times. Wind rushed from the door and into our faces, blowing our hair back.

I ran in. Legolas followed right behind me. From inside we could both hear Gimli mutter, "Here is a thing unheard of! An elf will go underground and a dwarf dare not!¹¹" Grace laughed and we heard her footsteps following us in tentatively. "Oh, I'd never hear the end of this!" Gimli said. We then hear his steps running in and a squeak as he collided with Grace. Legolas slid back through the dark and grabbed Grace's hand to pull her forwards.

She sighed in relief as she came into the torchlight. Gimli followed her and was gazing around at the high roof and dark corners. Letting go of Legolas' hand, Grace walked slowly beside us, seemingly listening to something. Yet there was nothing to hear.

- - - Grace - - -

"What do you hear, Grace?" Aragorn asked me.

I swallowed. "Nothing," I lied. There was no need to worry them.

"_What are you doing with _them?" a voice whispered. It sounded like it was right behind me and I whipped around. As I suspected, there was nothing there except Elrohir and Elladan.

"_You belong with us, little one_."

"_You belong in the land of the living no longer_."

"_Come back to us_."

I whimpered as the voices become more and more and louder and louder.

"_You don't belong with them, you're DEAD_."

"_You belong with us, come back_."

I shrieked and bolted through the group of people. They moved out of my way and I was going to run for the exit until a felt a hand on my wrist, holding me in place. Legolas was watching me.

"Grace, what is it? Tell me what you hear."

"Let me go," I said, scared out of my mind.

"I cannot, forgive me."

"Let me go," I repeated, and this time drew my knives.

Legolas continued to speak to me but I wasn't listening. Because someone else was speaking. Someone no one could hear but me.

"_You did it once, you can do it again_."

"_All it would take is one little prick, then you'll be with us_."

I then realized what they meant. They wanted me to kill myself. Again.

- - - Legolas - - -

I could tell she was listening to something different. Aragorn had stopped walking and had come back to see what was happening. Gimli looked at her and coughed gruffly. I still had a hold on her wrist and both her knives were drawn, but hanging loosely in her hands as she looked in the distance and listened to what we could not hear.

"What does she hear, Aragorn?" I asked.

"Perhaps the dead," Gimli replied.

"Aye," Aragorn agreed, glancing sideways at me, "the dead."

I did not think for one moment that Grace would use her knives on any of us. I would have removed them from her hands at once, had a foreseen that. But I did not and when she swung quickly at me, I stepped back and released her wrist.

Her eyes were focussed on us again. They burned in her face but I was happy to see she did not look mad in any way. Only troubled. The sound of Halbarad leading the company on was fading as she stood there holding her knives and looking at us.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I'm sorry to do this." Tears ran from her eyes. She made no move to stem the flow so I doubted she even realized she was crying.

"What?" Aragorn questioned. "What are you going to do?"

Instead of answering with words, she brought her knife up and looked at it. Grace's eyes fastened on me once more before I saw her move.

"Elbereth," Aragorn breathed as I jumped forward to stop her, her knife against her skin. A thin line of blood started to trail down her neck where the knife was.

"Let me go Legolas!" she said urgently to me.

"Hold on to her tightly, laddie, don't let her go!" Gimli encouraged.

"Let me go!" she said again and swung at me once more, causing me to move back, the knife cutting through the arm of my shirt. "They're calling me, they want me. And I need to go. I don't belong here anymore. I am one of the dead, why shouldn't I be like all the others?"

"You do not need to," Aragorn said beside me. He had moved closer to her. Close enough to be dealt a death blow if she so chose. Yet he seemed to be testing her. She did not want to swing at him for she knew he would not move.

Quickly, she moved again. Her knife was at her wrist, applying pressure. Pressure enough that would have killed her had Aragorn not intervened. As it was, she soon had a line of blood flowing from her wrist too. Aragorn grabbed her hands and, watching her face the whole time, bent them back until it caused her to let go of her knives. He then reached to her belt and took a small dagger from her.

But this did not seem to be her biggest concern at the moment. Again Grace was looking into the distance. She turned to us. "They say if I won't come to them, they will take me." Her face was white except for a small streak of dirt on one side. "Don't let them take me," she whimpered and ran forward to me. I wrapped her in my arms and held her tightly.

Gimli tapped my arm and handed me some cloth. I lifted Grace's face and dabbed gently at the shallow cut she had inflicted on herself. She breathed slowly in and out, shaking. I then lifted her arm and wiped the deeper, more serious cut on her wrist. I tied the cloth above it, forming a tourniquet.

"I will not let you be taken," I whispered to her and kissed her gently before taking her hand and walking with her, Aragorn, and Gimli to where Halbarad and his men stood. "Not by anybody. I will not let them take you."

(A/N: Well, this is a short chapter I know, but there will be a second part to it. Heh, I enjoyed making Grace psycho and angsty, it was fun! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look for another update soon! Review like you never have before!)

¹ The Return of the King, page 768

¹¹ The Return of the King, page 769


	26. The Paths of the Dead Part II

- - - Elladan - - -

The remainder of the Fellowship joined us. Grace's hand gripped Legolas' tightly. I watched her gingerly reach up and touch her neck. When I examined it closer, I saw that there was a shallow cut there, still bleeding slowly. I caught her eye and nodded my head, as I would to a passing elf in my home.

Aragorn stepped forward. We watched as the air rippled. A whole city filled with the dead appeared all around us and one figure stood in front of them all to speak.

"_You cannot pass through here_," he said.

"Let us pass," Aragorn insisted.

"_None but the king of Gondor can control us_."

Aragorn then lifted Anduril and stared at the King of the Dead. An angry noise came from him and Aragorn fastened a hand round his throat.

"Fight with us," he said, "and I will consider your debt repaid."

He released the King of the Dead and turned. Estel started walking among the dead and we followed his lead. "What say you?" he asked.

- - - Grace - - -

"What say you?"

Yes Aragorn, I think we get it. You want to know what they'll say. He wandered between the dead and they parted to let him through. Some of the others started to move around. I followed Elrohir and Elladan at a distance .

When someone's hand fastened on my wrist, I turned quickly. A small cry of alarm left my mouth when I saw who was holding me. Some man I didn't know. And not just any man. A dead man. His ghostly, greenish fingers were wrapped tightly around my wrist and I twisted it and reached for my knives.

Oh, way to Aragorn. Take my only means of defence.

"What say you?" I heard him ask yet again, louder.

Er, yeah, Aragorn, I think it's time to stop questioning the dead people.

The icky dead guy was slowly reeling me in like a fish on a line, no matter how hard I struggled. He bent in close to me and whispered (well, I guess that's what you'd call it) to me.

"_You're ours now_. _You should have been long ago_."

Okay, no. I am not dead as far as I know. I mean, if I was dead, would I be able to feel those disgusting DEAD hands all over my arms? No, I don't think so. Then I'd be all green and icky looking. Yeah, and if I could get Elf Boy over there, I can't have looked that bad, alright?

"What say you?" Aragorn cried, louder yet.

Yeah, now you're just pissing them off. Way to go. I didn't think that was the wisest thing to do since I was slowly being pulled into the group of them. I turned my head while kicking and squirming and searched for Legolas or Gimli. Or anyone really.

No one seemed to be noticing my little problem. And I wasn't really scared. At least, not until more dead people decided it would be nice to grab my hands and arms also. Well, this was just peachy. I mean, first I try to kill myself for the SECOND time and when that doesn't work, the dead decide to try and do it for me.

"Er - Elladan?" I asked.

"Yes Grace?" He turned to look at me. "Ai! Elbereth!" he cried when he saw my situation.

My point exactly.

When he cried out, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me. Quicker than I could see, Legolas fired an arrow off. It passed through the neck of the ghost that was holding me. Effective yet subtle.

I had underestimated how strong elves were because Elladan had grabbed me from behind and was pulling, and seemingly winning too, when Aragorn came running. He pointed his sword at my captor's face. Oooh, this was getting dirty.

"Release her!" he demanded.

"Yeah!" I echoed. "Release me! Bitch!" I couldn't resist the last part.

My ghost was now eyeing the sword with extreme dislike. He left me go swiftly and I plummeted to the ground on top of Elladan. I watched the ghost move out of view with another ghost at his side. Then I turned my attention back to my position. Which, it seemed to Legolas judging by the look on his face, was a bit too sexual. It really wasn't. Okay, so I was lying on him. But other than that, nothing. Alright, so my face was only a couple inches from his and I was lying _extremely_ close to him. But still.

Legolas pulled me up off of Elladan and stepped in close to me.

"You're alright?" he asked and brought up one of my hands to kiss the back.

"I'm perfectly fine. I just feel a little... different."

Legolas stopped looking at my wrist. There was a white handprint around it. I knew it would hurt the next day.

"Different how?" he questioned me.

"I don't know," I answered. And really I didn't. I only knew that something was missing.

When we all turned to walk out of the Paths of the Dead, hopefully never to return, something caught my eye. There was a figure of a woman standing with all the men. She raised a hand and waved at me. It struck a chord in me and I couldn't place it. While walking and glancing back periodically, I realized what it was:

The woman was me.

- - - Gimli - - -

Once we were out of that blasted place, we go back on the blasted horses and rode. I was seated with Aragorn, which wasn't much of a comfort since that blasted man didn't believe in saddles any more than the elf did.

After a horribly uncomfortable ride, we arrived at some docks. In port were several ships with black sails. I watched the elf's eyes light up at the sight of the water and ships. Blast! I hated the water and everything to do with it, yet I would show no weakness or crack in the armour that the elf could scoff at. The blasted incident with the cave was a disgrace to my kind.

I slid off the horse with the grace only my kind possesses and stood with my axe at the ready.

"We're storming the ship, Gimli," Aragorn whispered to me. "When I yell."

I nodded in understanding as the word was passed among us. Discretely, swords were unsheathed and the lass' knives were handed back to her.

Aragorn yelled and we started to the ship. The elves let arrows fly. They were quite handy for that, I must admit. Grace charged up the plank as Aragorn swung himself up on a rope and onto the ship deck. I tripped on my way up the plank and fell. Quick as a flash, I was on my feet again.

"C'mon Gimli!" Grace called to me, laughing as she swung her knives beside Legolas.

In several minutes we had taken the ship and were all on deck. Though they were barely visible, the dead were there too. I walked up to the elf and laughed.

"Yes Gimli?" he questioned, his hand linked with the lass'.

"Twelve," I said simply.

"Well done Master Dwarf!" he congratulated me. I grinned at him. Then, "Sixteen," he said.

"BLAST!"

(A/N: Teehee, silly dwarf, killing things is for elves! Wow, this chapter was fun to write. Dunno why, but it was! I love you all, for we are drawing near the end of this story. And I don't want to! I don't want to! Erlack... I shall see you soon. And the more you Review, the sooner I shall see you!)


	27. What Was Claimed Has Returned

_**Home is behind**_

_**The world ahead**_

_**And there are many paths to tread**_

_**Through shadow**_

_**To the edge of night**_

_**Until the stars are all alight**_

_**Mist and shadow**_

_**Cloud and shade**_

_**All shall fail**_

_**All shall fade**_ ¹

- - - Aragorn - - -

We were on the ships for half of one day and I watched Gimli grow increasingly agitated. Grace and Legolas stood looking over the water, talking quietly with each other. The more I watched Legolas link and unlink his fingers with Grace's, the more I missed Arwen. Where would she be now? Would she be boarding her last ship?

Once we were in view of the White City, I motioned for everyone to hide so we would not be spotted. Grace looked over at me from behind the deck railing. She winked and grinned at me. I touched my temple and nodded my head in salute. We could hear the orcs grumbling below us and I watched Gimli's fingers twitch on his axe handle.

When I yelled, we stood and jumped off the boat or ran down the plank. Elladan was the first off, screaming elvish war cries and firing arrows off faster than I could see. Legolas looked back once at Grace, then me, before running right into the midst of our enemy. The dead soon passed us and were running through the orcs, killing them instantly.

Grace halted when she saw the oliphants. She shrieked when Legolas started to climb the side of one. An orc headed for her left side as she stood, just watching. Halbarad swung his sword around and decapitated the orc. As its head hit Grace's foot, she seemed to realize she couldn't just stand and watch any longer. With a look of thanks to Halbarad, she joined me.

"Will he be alright, Aragorn?" she questioned.

"Have you ever worried about Legolas in war before?"

"No," she admitted.

"Then don't start now," I advised. "He knows what he is doing."

With a frustrated noise, she went back to slashing at orcs. When Legolas cut the saddle on the oliphant and ran to the top of its back, she screamed again, thinking he would fall. I grabbed her arm after hacking an orc.

"Do not stop!" I cried. "Now is not the time. He is fine."

We watched for a second as Legolas shot the oliphant with several arrows and it fell, him sliding easily off the end of its trunk. He landed in front of Gimli who paused and looked angry.

"That still only counts as one."

- - - Grace - - -

I realized how right Aragorn was, of course, after I watched Legolas take down an oliphant and all the people on it by himself. When he stood in front of Gimli, grinning, I ran forward to him. He embraced me gently.

"You were worried?" he asked. I don't know how he even knew that.

"Yes," I said.

"Never worry. There is no time to stop in battle and ask questions. There is only time to react." He kissed my temple quickly. "We will all be well."

I nodded and this time stood between Legolas and Gimli as we fought. At one point, I thought I saw the ghost that was me and I hit Legolas lightly on the shoulder and pointed. His eyes followed her and then he caught my eyes. A nod let me know he saw her.

I decided not to focus on that and only on what was happening now. I saw a Black Rider land in the middle of the field and I made a mental note not to go that way. When you looked up at Gondor, it no longer looked white. The dead were rushing over it like water so it was a green colour. Ew. I thought maybe I should tell someone that green definitely was not its colour.

I watched the oliphants tramp around and the trolls load rocks onto catapults, and I realized how prepared the enemy had been for this. If not for the dead on our side, we would have been easily swarmed and beaten within minutes.

While we fought, we drifted father apart, pushing the orcs back. I got closer to the Black Rider and whoever he was quarrelling with. His steed was already dead, and lay headless beside him. I watched him swing a spiky looking ball while the man he was fighting ducked and twisted.

Everything seemed to slow down for me as I saw a ball of fire drop off the edge of a platform that made up part of the huge city. The man twisted away from the attack against him and I saw his face. It wasn't a man! It was Éowyn, fighting for her life against the Witch-King. I screamed her name, watched her turn her head to me and the Black Rider bring up his arms for a deathblow. Before he could strike, something hit his leg and he turned to see Merry grasping his arm and howling in pain. Éowyn wasted no time, and sunk her blade into his helmet. She then seized her arm and fell to the ground.

I tried to run to her to see if I could be of help, but my way was barred suddenly by an oliphant, staggering under the weight of the dead on its back. Yelping, I jumped back, feeling someone pull me farther in reverse still. When the oliphant fell, I realized it would have fallen on my saviour and me.

Turning, who else did I see but, of course, Legolas. He leaned down a kissed me gently and quickly before saying, "Keep your eyes open, mela¹¹, " and leaving. I decided to take his advice and use a bit more caution wandering across the battlefield. I hadn't been fighting very well since the boat and it was starting to show again.

My determination only seemed to attract more orcs, I realized, as they swamped me. After parrying shot after shot, and not being able to get in a blow myself, I swallowed what little pride I had left and called out for Aragorn. He started slaughtering the orcs from behind while I finally started to cut them down with wide strokes of my blades.

Then suddenly, within seconds it seemed, the battle ended. There were only a few remaining orcs, running, and being chased down by the citizens of Rohan. I turned to Aragorn and he stood there grinning at me for several moments while we sheathed our weapons, until I launched myself into his arms and he hugged me for a moment, laughing. With a sigh, he let me go and I bent down to catch Gimli in a quick hug also.

Legolas came up behind, looking positively radiant as he watched me, barely covered in blood. I stepped in closer to hug him but he surprised me and turned his head, catching me in a kiss. I heard Gimli let out a loud whistle and Aragorn laughed again as we kissed for a long moment.

When Legolas broke the kiss, leaving me gasping for breath, he said, "See, we are all safe."

I shrugged as best as I could, still in his embrace, before he leaned down to kiss me again. Wow, I had never thought I would get to kiss someone who loved me like that. Never in my whole life, had I believe anyone would love me. Yet, there I was, kissing an _elf_ that loved me as much as life itself.

I bit my lip when he stopped kissing me, looking over at Aragorn and Gimli, who, conveniently, were pretending to have seen nothing.

"Love is not something to be embarrassed about," Legolas told me. "You should be proud."

"I am," I answered. "I just think it might be better saved for a more private place."

A grin came onto Legolas' face when he heard that. "Then later," he said, and nodded.

I let out a half sigh, half laugh, as he left to search the battlefield for survivors with Gimli and Aragorn. I wandered off in my own direction, looking at my feet.

When I came upon a pair of green boots, identical to mine, I looked up. Almost as if I had known she would be there, the ghost that was me, stood in front of me, grinning.

"_Hello_," she said.

What do you say to a ghost? To your ghost? 'Why are you haunting me?' I just looked at her for a moment and she seemed to get that I had no idea what to do.

"_Do not be afraid_._ Your debt had been paid_,_ your life is your own again_."

"Okay, what?" I asked.

"_I have repaid your debt_, _you no longer need fear death_._ For it is now part of you_," she answered, stepping closer to me.

I recoiled. "If you mean you have to go _in_ me, you must be joking. No way."

With a smile, she said, "_You have been missing a piece of you_,_ have you not_?" Letting me think for only a few seconds, she continued. "_I am the missing piece_. _The dead claimed me in their paths_._ But no longer_. _I am coming back to you now_, _there is nothing to fear_."

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, opened my arms, and held my breath. There was no weird sensation. There was just the emptier feeling that I had almost grown used to, disappearing. When I opened my eyes again, my ghost was gone. Walking back towards the Fellowship, I took out my knives and found that manoeuvring them was easier than it had been only minutes ago.

Hmm, go figure.

(A/N: Hi, Dig. Miss me? Wow, almost 300 Reviews. I love you guys. And I never noticed how common a name Grace was, until people started Reviewing, saying that it was their name. They can pretend they're in my story, hahaha. But yeah. I'm tired and sore and maybe still a bit hung over, so I'm going to go and I dunno, do something. Maybe sleep. Until next time my dears!)

¹ _The Steward of Gondor_, Return of the King Soundtrack

¹¹ Elvish. Translation: _love._ Also can be used as melamin. Translation: _my love_


	28. Athelas and Bathing

_When the black breath blows_

_and death's shadow grows_

_and all lights pass,_

_come athelas! come athelas!_

_Life to the dying_

_In the king's hand lying!_ ¹

- - - Aragorn - - -

Almost as soon as Legolas, Gimli, Grace, and I were done searching the battlefield for survivors of our side, I was called to the healing room to help care for several people. When I entered I saw Faramir, Merry, and the beautiful Éowyn. They were all lying unconscious. When I looked closer at the Steward's son, I saw he had slight burns on his body.

I saw that without help, they would soon become mere memories for Éowyn and Meriadoc had already passed into the dreams of shadows and Faramir's fever was far beyond breaking point. I hurriedly asked a healer if they had athelas within the city. When she said there was none, I wanted to despair, for nothing else could save them. Gandalf sent her off in search of even a leaf of kingsfoil. She sent an herb-master back. He was no help to me, repeating old folk-lore.

After a long while, as I stood by Faramir's side, calling his name quietly over and over, a boy came running in, holding six leaves of athelas for my use. I crushed it in between my hands and used it to tend to Faramir quickly, before he was lost to the land of the living forever.

I decided then that we would rest the night in Gondor. In the morning, along with the remaining Gondorian soldiers and Riders of Rohan, we would make our way Mordor to distract Sauron from keeping a watchful eye out for Sam and Frodo. Though this seemed like suicide to many, Gandalf had persuaded us that it was for the best. If the hobbits were to succeed on their mission, we would have to give them time.

- - - Grace - - -

We watched Aragorn hurry away from the battlefield with Gandalf as we continued to pick for survivors. I saw Legolas turn and scan the field for something. When I saw him start to move, I called to him.

"Come, mela. There is someone screaming."

I was a little sceptical at first until we saw a young man - a boy really - lying on the ground, clutching his stomach one hand, and unable to move his other arm due to the fact that it looked to be broken. I almost immediately closed my eyes and turned my head so I wouldn't have to look at this mess of a person.

I must have been swaying on my feet because Legolas came up beside me and tilted my face up to look at him. "Be strong Grace. This boy needs us to help him." Realizing this was true, I turned again and tried to focus on the boy's eyes and nothing else.

I knelt down beside him as Legolas did as much as he could with cloth, and then went to bring the nearest horse as a transport. "What's your name?" I asked him.

"I am - Br-" He seemed to be in so much pain that I clasped his hand with my own. I felt him squeeze back surprisingly strong, which I took to be a good sign. "Brantin... Son of Brantil."

"I'm Grace," I told him. "How old are you?"

I shuddered as he said, "Sixteen." That was too young to be witnessing these kinds of things.

Legolas arrived back at that point with one of the Riddermark. Together, we pulled Brantin up and set him, as comfortably as possible, in front of the Rider. His horse sidestepped and Legolas said some quick words in elvish and patted it between the ears before it took off at a steady pace towards the city.

"War isn't a pretty thing," I said sadly as Legolas and I walked slowly towards the closest hole in the great wall of the city. Gimli was strolling not far in front of us, and I slowed down, not wanting to be with other people, yet not knowing why.

"It never has been. I have seen countless wars and not one ended beautifully." Legolas sighed and I reached for his hand. There weren't many times when I noticed the time of Legolas' life wearing on him so I felt the need to comfort him when it did.

Even though we weren't moving quickly, we soon came up beside Gimli. He looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion and seeing him covered in dirt and blood, stumbling towards the city, made me long for a bath and a soft bed.

Once in the city, we were located by one of the Steward's servants. He escorted us to a large, clean room up near the top centre of the city. The walk was so long I thought Gimli and I would both have to be carried by Legolas for half of it. But we made and it was worth it as I saw red hangings around the biggest bed I'd ever seen in my entire life.

"Lord Aragorn will be escorted here also, as soon as he is finished in the House of Healing."

Legolas nodded as the servant left. He started to smile as Gimli removed his boots, chest plate, and helmet and took straight to the bed. I shook my head and made for the bathroom that was attached to the room. Gasping, I saw a bath that was easily three times the size of any I'd seen before it. It was filled already and there were rose petals floating on the top of the water.

Even in the midst of war, the servants were still drawing baths and tending to guests. It baffled me. 

I slid eagerly into the water and cringed as I watched it turn a light shade of red-brown. My clothes lying on the floor were stained that colour and I wondered how I could have worn them ever. I closed my eyes and relaxed at the feeling of the warm water caressing my tired muscles.

The next thing I knew, Legolas was kneeling beside me, brushing the back of his hand across my cheek. I started and sat straight up, only to realise I was completely naked. I curled my legs up to my chest and sunk down until the water was up past my mouth.

"I am sorry, mela. But you were asleep and I did not want anything bad to come of you. Aragorn has arrived and is waiting for his chance to clean himself. Clean clothes have been left for you with the towels." He gestured to his left. "I will go now."

He stood to leave, looking remarkably clean after just fighting a war.

"Legolas?" I called. He turned to look at me. "I - Will you braid my hair when I'm dressed?"

Instead of looking upset I hadn't asked him to stay (I think he knew I wasn't ready for that yet), he smiled down at me. "Of course," was all he said before he turned again and left the room.

- - - Legolas - - -

When Grace emerged from the bathing room, fully dressed in a long nightgown the maids had left for her, Aragorn let out a sigh of relief. "Women!" he said exasperated, and went to wash off.

Grace looked at me almost timidly and padded across the room quietly. I sat her facing the wall with her back to me as I carefully started the braiding process. She started asking me questions and telling me bits of her life. When on the quest, I forgot how different our backgrounds were. She was still young by human standards, but by elven standards she would have still been an infant.

I found it odd that none of this mattered to me as we sat there talking for the better part of an hour as I braided her hair.

"Spiders?!" she asked disbelieving, turning her head to look at me. "Like, the little web-spinning things with eight legs, right?"

"Yes," I answered and turned her head back gently with my hand. "Except they aren't so little in Mirkwood. Some get to be the size of a horse, easily."

She let out a noise of disgust as I finished her hair and slid a bit closer to her. When she felt me move, she leaned back onto me and closed her eyes. I brushed a piece of hair off her face as I leaned down and left a light kiss on her neck, above her collarbone. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up.

I watched as her eyes darted from mine, down to my mouth. I smiled gently as I realized she had only sat up out of surprise and not fear. Slowly, so much like the first time we had kissed, she leaned forward and tentatively touched her lips to my own. I slid a hand under her hair, along the back of her neck and her fingers reached out to grasp the neck of my shirt and pull me closer.

I was so absorbed in Grace at that moment that I didn't hear anything until a loud, "Ahem!" came from the bathroom. Slowly I felt Grace move back. I kissed her quickly again before turning and seeing Aragorn leaning against the doorframe and smirking at us.

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to go to sleep."

"Does it look like we mind?" Grace asked him.

Aragorn laughed at her. He easily looked ten years younger after refreshing himself with a bath. A yawn came from Grace and she stretched her arms high over her head, drawing out the scars on her wrists until they were only thin, white lines.

Aragorn understood that I wouldn't exactly appreciate laying beside the dirty dwarf all night so he crawled over Grace, who was already laying with her eyes closed, and moved the covers up to cover him. I moved Grace under the blanket and I lay beside her, tracing my fingers lightly up and down her sides. She opened her eyes tiredly and looked at me.

"G'night Legolas," she mumbled.

"Sleep well mela," I replied.

(A/N: Sorry for the long time updating. Don't beat me, please! Here's a long[ish] chapter for you to make up for it. Review, mmmkay? I know this chapter sucked, but don't be brutal.)

¹ The Return of the King, page 847


	29. Interrupted Kisses

- - - Grace - - -

I rolled over and stretched. Opening my eyes, I expected to see Legolas or even Aragorn lying beside me in that huge bed. Instead I was met with a sleeping Gimli. The yell I let out must have been quite loud for it woke the dwarf. He saw me, yelled also, and flopped backwards off the bed. I crawled over to the edge and peeked over.

"Gimli? Are you alright?"

A sound of laughter came from the opposite side of the room. Aragorn was sitting at a table sharpening some knives and cleaning his sword. He chuckled as he brought a knife up to look at. Gimli popped up from the floor, sputtering. He looked like he was about to reprimand me for startling him, but Legolas opened the door of the bathroom and entered before he could.

His blue eyes studied us seriously. I felt the urge to laugh subsiding as his cool eyes swept over my features. Gimli let out a harrumph and stomped over to the open door Legolas had just come from. I saw all the clothes and armour we had discarded on the floor the night before had been cleaned up and set over chairs near Aragorn. There were fancier clothes in an open armoire standing not too far away.

"We would spend time dressing you, if we were to tarry here for more than the day, m'lady," Aragorn said, mock bowing, when he saw what I was staring at so openly.

When he said that, I turned sharply to look at him. "Where are we going now?"

"Why, Mordor of course!" he commented flippantly, as if it were nothing.

I opened my mouth to protest or swear or yell but Legolas cut me off. "If indeed Frodo has made it this far, we must distract the enemy from seeing him."

It was funny, but in the last several weeks, I had completely forgotten the original quest that the Fellowship had set out on. A thought struck me then: _Was I even a part of the Fellowship_? This had never been brought up between the four of us ever. I hesitated in asking this now. Instead, I smiled forcedly. The look I got from both Legolas and Aragorn at that was quite amusing.

The looked about to question me when a yell came from the bathroom and the door flew open. Legolas jumped out of the way, the door narrowly missing him.

"This confounded, blasted, _bloody_ thing!" Gimli struggled with a shirt that was half over his head. It looked like he had bathed and was having trouble dressing himself in clean clothes.

The laugh that came from Aragorn was infectious and soon I joined in and Legolas even stood back and smiled at the fierce dwarf's antics. He growled - I _swear_ he growled - as he stumbled around the room, succeeding only in tangling himself worse and banging into a bedside table.

"Well would one of you help me?!" he yelled finally.

Still laughing, I went over and simply untied several strings that were holding the shirt over his head. It slid easily down over his red face. Breathing deeply, he smoothed it and huffed. "That takes care of that, then," was all he said before stomping back into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

Aragorn smiled, reached for my daggers and threw them at me, still in their sheathes. I jumped, catching them. "Clean them," he ordered. My expression must have been one of shock because he shook his head, still smiling.

"Aragorn, they're not that dirty," I protested, pulling them out. When I looked at them, I realized they were covered in caked blood and dirt. I made a face. "Okay, maybe they are. But I have no idea how to clean them without slicing my fingers off!"

"I'm sure Gimli would be happy enough to help you. Legolas, come. We have to see how prepared Gandalf is to leave."

"I'm sure Gimli would be happy enough to help you," I mimicked, sticking out my tongue.

He moved until he was right close to me. "Don't be doing that Grace," he said, "or your fingers won't be the only thing that are sliced off." My mouth dropped open at his threat. He smiled, ruffled my hair and headed to the door.

Legolas passed me as he followed his human friend. "Use water then rub them with his cloths mela, that should do the trick," he said, still smiling at my childish actions.

Gimli opened the door of the bathroom and saw me sitting there by myself. He scanned the room quickly for the other men. "They've left me alone with the woman?" he asked, looking upwards for guidance. "What is wrong with them?" Looking at me, he closed the door for a third time.

- - - Aragorn - - -

Almost immediately after leaving the room, I started laughing. Legolas smiled at me. After the sombreness of war for so long, it was a relief to watch the comedic situations of Gimli and Grace, whether they were intentional or not.

We ran into the remainder of Halbarad's company - sadly many of them had not conquered Pelennor Fields - after silently walking for several moments. "We are ready to leave, Strider," one told me. I nodded at them. "To the gates then," he said. Again I nodded.

I sent Legolas back to our room to get the others ready to depart. I headed off to fine Gandalf. Someone told me he had been seen in the Houses of Healing so I headed up to the higher level of the city. When I entered the room, healers bustled around me, some smiling and other grumbling at me to get out of their way.

I made my way over to where Merry, Faramir, and Éowyn were lying. The hobbit was already awake and yelled my name when I came into his view. He attempted to get up but a healer rushed past and shoved him gently, but firmly back into the mattress.

"Strider!" he called again, frantically.

"Hello little one," I greeted him, rumpling his hair as he attempted to grab onto my hand and any form of company.

"Talk to me about something, _anything_, other than medicine and treatments, please! I am desperate after being kept here for a day!" Until then I had completely overlooked the arm that was wrapped in cloth. The arm, that I supposed, had held the blade that pierced the Witch-King's leg.

I got lost in conversation until a healer came over to us and started ranting about how I could not disturb the patients when they were in such desperate need of healing. I excused myself and went to fulfill my original task of finding Gandalf.

- - - Gimli - - -

Shortly after closing myself in the bathing room, I decided it would be safe to emerge. Colourful words and curses came from the lass as she struggled with cleaning her weapons. I tilted my head to get a better look. Finally she slammed the cloth and knives down on the table beside her and noticed me.

"Gimli!" she cried. Her eyes widened in an innocent way. "Would you like to help me with these?" She gestured to her knives. "Please?"

"Er -" I started.

"Please, please, please, please!" She came closer to me and grabbed my hands. Her eyes looked as if they would start filling with tears soon.

After an inner debate, I decided to help Grace. She was, after all, only a young human. "I will help," I agreed, graciously.

She kissed my cheek quickly and skipped over to an open armoire. Inside I could see dresses and some other clothes that looked like they were meant for men. She reached to feel the clothes as I picked up her knives and the cloth she had abandoned. Her smile was all the thanks I needed.

- - - Legolas - - -

When I came back to the room, Gimli was sitting on the chair that had previously been vacated by Aragorn and was scrubbing away at Grace's knives happily. Inwardly I shook my head. She had conned him into cleaning for her.

Apart from looking up when I entered, Grace took no notice that I was in the room. She was looking at dresses in awe. Her fingers stroked the material lovingly as she tried to take in all their details at once. I wandered up behind her and slowly wound an arm around her middle.

"They're so beautiful," she said in awe. And they were. I had seen many dresses in my many years but never any in the traditional style of Gondor.

"You would look beautiful in them too," I whispered to her as I bent my head and let my lips lightly touch her neck and shoulder. I could feel a hot blush radiating from her cheeks.

I took a quick glance at the dwarf to make sure he was occupied before making less subtle advances on Grace. She barely took notice of me, still absorbed in the dresses until I stepped around in front of her. Shaking herself out of her reverie, she smiled.

"Legolas," she chided gently.

I took a step closer to her, loving the sound of my name on her lips. She started laughing quietly as she backed into the bed. I followed her until she was forced to lean backwards into the mattress. Propping myself up above her, I leaned down to kiss her gently, having been forced to chase her this far already.

She moved her face upwards to meet my lips. Right before I was able to kiss her, a thunderous noise of content came from Gimli, causing us to break apart.

"Here you are, lass!" he cried, bringing her knives to her, completely oblivious of the intimate position he had just forced us out of.

She thanked him and he scurried back to the table to start on cleaning his axe. This time Grace moved forward until she was right in front of me. I had to smile gently as our faces again came closer until they were a hair's breadth apart. I just had time to feel her lips touch mine for a second before the door was thrown open and Aragorn came in.

Grace, who had jumped away from me quickly, let out a loud noise of displeasure.

"Are we ready to leave? We must make haste if we are to make it Mordor in time!" He took a look at the clean knives Grace had set on the bed and smiled proudly at her.

It only took us moments to retrieve everything that was needed. With a sad sigh, Grace closed the doors on the fine-looking dresses.

"We will be back for them, won't we Legolas?" she asked me.

"Of course, mela," I assured her. And I hoped we would.

(A/N: Could you spare the time for a Review? I think you could.)


	30. Dwarf at Heart

> - - - Grace - - -
> 
> So much for leaving quickly! Gimli and Legolas went off to visit Merry and Pippin, the latter of which who was in the Houses of Healing for minor wounds. Aragorn went with Gandalf to speak with Éomer and other such important people. I wandered the streets of Gondor, looking for something to occupy my time. Legolas had offered to come with me, or bring me with them to see the hobbits but I refused, feeling like spending some time on my own.
> 
> Civilians moved easily around the city, some carrying loads, others just making their way somewhere. I got many weird looks as I walked. I guess it's uncommon for women to be seen walking around in pants with knives on their hips. Believe me, I would have rather been wearing those fancy dresses anyway.
> 
> I wandered aimlessly for close to an hour. I saw Legolas at the end of the street, his keen eyes having seen me long ago. I walked slowly, savouring every moment that we weren't in war. I heard a little girl laugh beside me and watched a young man lift her up and kiss her cheek. A young woman that must have been his wife came up beside him, looking like she was going to cry, she was so happy. I watched the man lean in a kiss his wife gently and I heard him mutter, "I love you."
> 
> Something struck me then. We were going into war! Had I once told Legolas I loved him? I was suddenly overcome with the urge to tell him little things like that before one of us was suddenly taken away. When I looked up at him again, he was much closer. I could tell he had seen my change in mood because he looked concerned. Giving no thought to the odd looks he was getting, he focussed on my face.
> 
> I took a deep breath, and took several steps in Legolas' direction. I moved quickly, slipping through the mass of people. When I came to my elf, I threw myself onto him. Feeling his arms come up around my back, I smiled and closed my eyes.
> 
> "What -" he started.
> 
> I put a finger up to his mouth. His eyes studied me, getting more distressed by the moment. "Oh, God, Legolas. I love you!" There was a brief moment where I saw him smile before his mouth was over mine and he was kissing me.
> 
> For a long moment I forgot we were standing in the middle of a crowded street. When I opened my eyes, people were milling around us and we were getting a variation of glances from them. A group of older women smiled while the little girl I had seen before was clapping.
> 
> "Le melon¹ Grace," Legolas whispered in my ear, bending down to do so. "I love you also."
> 
> - - - Aragorn - - -
> 
> After wasting much time - though it was a necessary waste - with speaking about the battle we were going into, we were finally able to make our way to one of the doors in the wall of Gondor. Men on horses were already waiting on Pelennor Fields. Gandalf, Éomer, and I had quickly tallied how many men - Rohhirim, Gondorians, and otherwise - we would be able to take with us to wage war on Mordor. After our count, we realized we would be accompanied by seven thousand men, if luck was with us. Already this was not looking good.
> 
> There were several horses waiting for us once we arrived there. I took Pippin, who Gandalf and I had decided would leave Merry and come with us, and set him on a horse and hopped up behind him. Legolas and Gimli managed to mount without too much difficulty. I looked down from my seat on my horse to find Grace. She was standing beside Elladan's horse, holding the reins of a fine looking mare. I could tell she was apprehensive about mounting by the way she was eying it.
> 
> "Estel, does the young one need help?" Elladan called to me in elvish.
> 
> With a small laugh I said, "She is frightened of riding."
> 
> Dismounting quickly, the elf took a few steps until he was behind Grace. He pushed the reins into her hands firmly, looked at her quickly to make sure she was not uncomfortable with his touch, and lifted her easily onto the horse. Her eyes got huge and she let out a little scream.
> 
> Elrohir, from the other side of Elladan, laughed lightly. "Why are you so alarmed by the horses, my lady?"
> 
> Grace looked in his direction. "I like them,' she told him. "I just prefer to be on the ground."
> 
> "Ah, she's a dwarf at heart!" Gimli said from his post behind Legolas.
> 
> There was a bit of laughter from us at that comment. At the front of our legion, I could make out Gandalf talking and raising his staff high in the air. There was a sound of trumpets and the horses and men began to move forward, towards Mordor.
> 
> We did not travel far our first day. When we halted, we could still see the top of the White City in the distance. I hoped we would make better time in the future days.
> 
> - - - Elrohir - - -
> 
> We rode onward for many days. Talk between us grew less frequent and quieter. The men, though I knew they could not see them, could feel the remaining Ringwraiths flying high above us. Legolas, Elladan, and I soon resolved that we would not look upwards, for the sight of those hideous creatures was enough to chill the heart of anyone, elf and man alike.
> 
> On the fifth day, when the sun was setting, it was decided that we would stop one last time before arriving in Mordor. We settled the horses in close proximity to each other and started to set up camp. Estel had a very small fire blazing within the minimum amount of time and the remainder of the Fellowship set themselves around it.
> 
> Elladan sat down to answer all of Aragorn's subtly placed questions about our sister. I gave the dwarf a wide berth and sat myself on the other side of the Ranger. Across the fire sat Legolas, with Grace's head in his lap. They both stared into the fire as his fingers ran themselves through her hair and over braids I could see were of Mirkwood style.
> 
> The girl suddenly sat up, startling most of us. "I'm going for a walk," she said nonchalantly, standing to leave. Within seconds, Legolas was on his feet and they were both out of sight.
> 
> I turned back to continue my conversation and was met with the stare of the dwarf. I looked at him warily, trying not to notice the dirt covering most of his body. After a long silence, a loud laugh came from Gimli and he reached out a hand to shake mine.
> 
> - - - Legolas - - -
> 
> "Legolas, please," Grace pleaded with me, her lips still touching mine, "I need to breathe!" She laughed quietly and I felt her body reverberate against mine. I placed soft kisses along her jaw line as she walked slowly backwards, trying to stay in the shadows so we would not be walked in upon.
> 
> She was about to walk into someone so I grabbed her arms quickly to stop her walking. Looking over the top of her head, I spotted Éomer. Grace must have felt me stiffen, for the laughter was gone suddenly and she turned to face the new arrival. I moved my arms until they securely held her around her waist and I felt her lean some of her weight onto me, while reaching up to grab one of my hands.
> 
> A hated glance was cast my way from the son of Éomund. I stared back into his eyes and did not like what I saw. The bitterness I saw in his eyes lead me to believe he was a threat to Grace. When looking deeper, I realized, with horror, that had this man no respect for Aragorn or anxiety concerning me, he would not have waited to swoop down on the young human I held in my arms.
> 
> "Hi Éomer," Grace ventured timidly. "What are you doing out here so late?"
> 
> A smirk came across the handsome face of the man in front of us. "I could ask you the same thing. Or are you busy with your elf to have the time to answer?" Grace opened her mouth to speak as I threw dangerous glances in the direction of Éomer. "And as for you, _elf_ - you should have stayed with your own kind. Leave this world with the rest of them; it can only be for the better." He spit the words at us like there was a bitter taste in his mouth.
> 
> Before either of us had the chance to do anything, he was gone, slipping through the shadows like some sort of serpent. Grace let out a long breath and shuddered. I walked around the front of her and put a hand on the side of her face, tilting her head upwards. Her eyes closed when I came in close proximity to her and I studied her as she took calming breaths.
> 
> "You're not really going to leave, are you Legolas?" she asked, quietly and suddenly, without opening her eyes.
> 
> I took a step backwards, shocked that she would think such a thing of me. Her eyes slid open and stared at me from the darkness. The expression on her face was one of innocence and worry. We stared at each other, each trying to understand what the other was thinking, for a very long time.
> 
> "I don't want you to leave me." The words rushed quickly from her mouth and within seconds she had thrown her arms around my neck and was holding me so tightly I feared she would never let go.
> 
> Not that I would disagree with that decision, if it was what she so chose.
> 
> "I would not leave you for the world, mela," I whispered to her.
> 
> She nestled her face into my neck and I could feel her lips touching my skin softly in a way that drove me crazy.
> 
> "You should not be doing that," I chided her gently, sliding my hands under the back of her shirt. When my fingers touched her skin, I heard her take in a sharp breath.
> 
> After a moment's hesitation she said, "You shouldn't do that either."
> 
> I moved my hands a bit higher, feeling her back arch. "And why not?" I asked her, moving so her face was tilted upwards and my lips were touching her forehead.
> 
> Rising up onto the balls of her feet, she kissed me slowly. "Because I don't want you to stop," she replied in a whisper, once she had buried her face in my shoulder.
> 
> I was about to kiss her again when Aragorn came into view. He saw us and put his hand up to shield his eyes. "Sorry! Sorry," he said. "Just passing through." He kept walking until I knew he was out of Grace's view.
> 
> Then she burst out laughing, releasing me from her grip. "Legolas, we are insane! We're almost in Mordor and we're fawning over each other. I really don't think we've had enough time together if we can romanticize this!" She gestured around to the barren land we were in. I smiled, seeing the humour in the situation.
> 
> Aragorn came back our direction, shielding his eyes again. Grace threw a small pebble at him and it bounced off his head, letting him know he could uncover his eyes. We all walked back to where our fire was together.
> 
> I sat, and again Grace put her head in my lap. She was asleep within minutes and I studied her as the dying fire cast shadows across her cheekbones.
> 
> Praise the Valar for love.
> 
> (A/N: I hope this chapter was long enough for you guys. I tried hard. Now Review it and I'll try harder.)
> 
> ¹ Elvish. I think (hope) it's right. Translation: _I love you_


	31. Battles and Baths

- - - Grace - - -

Very few of us slept on the fifth night. We lay awake, listening for a hint of what we would find the next day. But there was nothing to hear. No orcs made themselves known. The enemy was stealing itself for the final battle.

We rose the next morning, eyes tired, yet wide, sore, yet ready to fight. Quickly, we moved into sight of the Black Gate. I was struck dumb just by looking at it. Since I had arrived in Middle-earth, I had seen many things that were new to me, but never anything this menacing and striking.

Gandalf and Aragorn rode toward the gate. I sat on my horse, twitching out of nervousness until Legolas reached over and stroked my hand lightly. "Calm, mela, they know what they are doing," he whispered. I nodded in return but couldn't stop moving anxiously.

All of us watched as Aragorn and Gandalf made to come back to us. Before they could take three steps. the Black Gate started to open. A huge, black _thing_ rode out on a horse. It had several soldiers with it. When it started to speak with Aragorn, our whole company became still to listen. Even from so far away, though we couldn't hear our leader speaking, the voice of the Messenger of Sauron carried to us easily.

"Why would he send a Black Rider?" I heard Merry question.

Legolas turned to him. "That is no ring wraith, Merry Brandybuck. That is a Black Númenorean. He is human, yet."

Merry made a loud noise of disgust, causing some of the troops to turn and look in our direction.

"What are they showing him?" I asked Legolas as the Soldiers of Sauron held something up for Gandalf and Aragorn to see.

"Mithril," Legolas answered me, carefully.

"Isn't that -" Merry began before Legolas waved his hand to silence him.

"Yes. It is Frodo's."

There seemed to be some talk among both sides. The expression on Gandalf's face got angrier and angrier as the talk went on. He seemed to say something that upset the heralds of the Sauron, because they turned and went back through the Black Gate.

Even as we watched and as Aragorn headed back towards us, orcs and other atrocities started pouring out of the Gate.

- - - Aragorn - - -

The Dark Lord had organized his troops well. The two armies collided like a wave would collide with a stone wall. I slashed at orcs right and left, trying to keep an eye on Pippin at all times. I watched Legolas do the same for Grace as he dodged toward a troll.

There was a cry from someone. "The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!"

I looked upward briefly and saw several shadowy shapes flit quickly. There was a fleeting feeling of relief in my chest before I went back to hacking through orcs.

This continued for some time until I heard a great rumble from under the ground and it shifted several inches. There was a brief second of silence in which all the screaming and cries of pain stopped to listen to the earth's protests.

Another loud noise came from the earth before it started shifting rapidly and falling away beneath some of the Dark Lord's troops. Our army retreated and the orcs rushed toward us to remain on stable ground.

I watched Legolas snatch Grace up as cracks formed and the earth fell where she had been standing moments before. There were some orcs still left standing and our men cut them down quickly or forced them off the edges of the newly formed cliff.

For a moment after everything was still, panting was audible from all sides. Then Grace began to shriek in happiness and hug Legolas. Gandalf took up her cheer and all the soldiers followed suit until all were shouting and chanting.

- - - Legolas - - -

The quest back to Gondor seemed to last a millennia. As the days wore on, the travelling got quicker and quicker, for we all wanted to arrive back to civilization. I rode with Grace in front of me, sleeping with her head leaned back against my shoulder for most of the ride.

On the fifth evening, when we were in sight of Gondor, I told Aragorn that I would be taking Grace and the horse and riding ahead. We quickly put distance in between us and the troops. Grace seemed to wake up with cool wind blowing into her face.

We arrived back at the city a great deal ahead of the rest of the travellers and caused an uproar, for all the civilians were waiting for their men to come home.

It had been arranged for Grace and I to share the room we had the previous time we were in Gondor while Aragorn and Gimli would each be given separate, smaller, rooms.

Grace went to sit on the bed when we entered the room, motioning for me to bathe first, if it was what I wanted. I gave her a hurried kiss on the forehead and went to clean myself of the filth of battle. When I emerged a while later, I saw Grace standing ready to enter the room, barely clad.

I lowered my eyes so as not to make her uncomfortable. She grabbed my hand gently and led me in behind her.

"Legolas," she said softly, and I felt something run up my spine, "I want you to wash me."

I made sure no look of astonishment registered on my face and she looked coolly up into my eyes before removing the rest of her clothing and slipping into the water. I took up a sponge that was sitting on the side and started to gently rub it across her back and shoulders.

It didn't take me long to finish cleaning the smears of blood from Grace's body and as soon as I had, I scooped her from the water. Her eyes got larger as I carried her into the other room after wrapping her in one of the light sheets provided for drying.

She swallowed as I set her lightly down on the bed. I looked into her eyes, trying to commute the fact that she should not be afraid of anything. A nervous breath came from her mouth before she laughed quietly.

She reached up to brush a piece of hair from my face and I closed my eyes as I felt her fingertips travel from my brow to my chin.

"Grace," I breathed, going to reach for her, yet thinking better of it.

Another quiet laugh came from her lips and she kissed my forehead gently before pulling me down to rest on her with my head on her shoulder. My hand caressed her side briefly before I came to the realization that she had not dressed and was still wearing only the sheet I had wrapped her in.

She was smiling gently at me when I looked back down at her, having seen my reaction. I looked into her eyes as I ran my hand along her side. I was delighted to see her close her eyes and arch her neck in response to my actions.

We lay there for the rest of the night as I worshiped her body over and over again.

(A/N: I don't update enough, do I? Nevermind, don't answer that. In other news, Review.)


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